The Card Apprentice

The scholars at the Federation Comprehensive Academy were disconsolate in their grief. Even some of the professors were watching Jie Yanbai with fear showing on their faces.

Jie Yanbai was still looking bedraggled, but the gazes of everyone looking at him were now full of horror and shock.

“You lost.” Jie Yanbai’s eyes sparked, and he spoke in a low voice. In sharp contrast, Dou Bo’s face was like the ashes of the dead.

Touching all the terrified gazes, Jie Yanbai felt unspeakably carefree. Although his time at the Central Repository of the Classics hadn’t been so satisfactory, he still had deep feelings for the place. Even though he was a comparative stranger to the master, there were still people in the school he cared about. He was friendly with the teacher who had passed along the legacy of the Rouged Finger to him, but as to Mi Xiaqing, who was killed by Tang Hanpei…

He could overlook whether the master lived or died, but he couldn’t be oblivious to the decline of the Central Repository of the Classics—the place where he had studied and grown up. When he had seen that Tang Hanpei had defeated the master, it felt like he had been given a huge slap in the face at the same time.

Then, there was the current onslaught of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Looking at the young and proud faces now so full of terror and fury, Jie Yanbai suddenly remembered his time in the forest. He had been badly wounded and had retreated into the forest, where he narrowly escaped with a new lease on his life.

He’d had to use huge amounts of strength to be able to kill even the smallest and weakest wild animals. He had been engulfed each day in the middle of life and death and couldn’t dare to slack off in the least. There had been nothing good to eat nor any beautiful women, and there hadn’t even been the most basic security. If he had been the least bit careless, he would have become a feast in the bellies of the beasts.

He had been like a wild man struggling in the forest. It was a blessing that he had a tough temperament and a powerful will to live. The risk had inspired his potential, and his perception had strengthened at a stunning pace. Since he only knew the Rouged Finger, in order to be able to survive, he’d had to wrack his brains to find some way to increase its power.

The Rouged Finger, which was such a well-known legacy in the federation, really shined in his hands. His constant thinking in the middle of life and death led to understanding, confirmation, and refinement. Eventually, he had gradually formed a unique set of skills that was different from the those he’d learned from the legacy.

He re-named it the Glorious Rebirth. Now was his first time to show off to the world how stunning the Glorious Rebirth was.

Dou Bo’s whole body was blackened, and there was nothing of his handsomeness to be seen. What really shocked people were the six holes on his body, all spewing gurgling blood.

But Dou Bo was stunningly tough as he withstood the pain. “Brother Jie is far better than I, and Dou Bo willingly accepts defeat.” After saying that, he abruptly crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The medical card artisans who had been at the side for a while all came forward to provide critical care.

Jie Yanbai praised him inwardly while his thunderous gaze slowly swept the crowd. His martial spirit was then at its peak!

“Who else?”

The Federation Comprehensive Academy seemed to have suddenly been sent from heaven to hell. The demise of Song Chengyan was agonizing. Then, at about the same time, Jie Yanbai defeated all the aces at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. That pulled the despairing Central Repository of the Classics back from the edge.

There were 20 large and small platforms broadcasting the competition at the same time. They had originally come to the Federation Comprehensive Academy to see if they could find some exclusive story because of the recent victory on the front lines.

Countless experts were discussing the victory, all choosing the same expression: crucial victory. If—and only if—Song Chengyan’s demise and Jie Yanbai’s powerful return hadn’t both happened at the same time, that victory would still have been called a crucial victory. But right there was where the wonders of the world resided.

The fatal, rouge, bright red beam was ever-changing and elusive, like smoke and glorious rebirth. Overwhelming, powerful, and oppressive perception pressed forward. Everyone watching the live broadcast went wild.

By his own power alone, Jie Yanbai had utterly defeated the aces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, nearly repeating the scene of Tang Hanpei’s challenge to the Central Repository of the Classics. While it was true that Tang Hanpei wasn’t there, which had provided Jie Yanbai his chance to win, that still didn’t detract from Jie Yanbai’s prestige.

Previously, Jie Yanbai would only have been considered to have a little fame. There were myriad aces among the Big Six who were at that level. The most famous ace at the Central Repository of the Classics, apart from its master, was Qiao Yuan. Ever since the time they had been competing for the Central Island Firm’s technology for communications in the jungle, there hadn’t been any news about Jie Yanbai after he went missing.

For someone who had already been forgotten to make such a sudden, powerful, dark-horse comeback really rocked the federation.

Among the generation of aces from the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai had not only learned the Rouged Finger, but he also didn’t have the direct connection to the master the way Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing had.

From any sense, Jie Yanbai and Tang Hanpei were similar. Both were students of just average power who wanted to learn a legacy, and the two together had become legendary. They both went against the tide by virtue of their own strength, and they even had the same style. What distinguished them was that Tang Hanpei had been favored by the gods. Although Jie Yanbai didn’t have Tang Hanpei’s halo, he did have exceptionally good luck.

If it all hadn’t coincided with the demise of Song Chengyan, he would never have made such an impression. The experts who were analyzing the times that day had already changed their tunes about their premature determination of the “death” of the Central Repository of the Classics. They now took on a cautious attitude.

All of the viewers in the Heavenly Federation were focused on the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics and on the two strongmen, Tang Hanpei and Jie Yanbai.

* * *

“Watch carefully.”

He saw Wei-ah slightly bend his right elbow and stretch out his fingers in front of his chest. Then, he suddenly shook his wrist and extended his elbow, which was all a blur to Chen Mu. He couldn’t clearly see Wei-ah’s hand at all when he heard a crisp explosion, and the target in front of Wei-ah exploded apart!

Impossible! Chen Mu was staring at the shredded target, dazed and wide-eyed. Wei-ah was three meters from the target, and he hadn’t moved half a step during the entire process. His hand certainly couldn’t reach as far as the target!

But he had seen the target blow up with his own eyes, as though it had been hit by a hammer! But there was obviously nothing there. Since Wei-ah’s hand had no way to hit the target, where had that “hammer” come from?

Seeming to see Chen Mu’s doubt, Wei-ah didn’t keep him in suspense. He explained, “Speed and the movement of the hand are the most critical. As long as the wave of your hand is fast enough, you can form the air into a lethal flow. The changes in your hand can control the shape and direction of the flow of air.”

Wei-ah’s fingers were slowly fluttering as gently as seaweed, dazzling and beautiful. It was hard to imagine that someone as dull as Wei-ah could actually make such a beautiful motion.

“Air!” Chen Mu was suddenly enlightened and became immediately horrified. “No way. That would require such explosive power!” Chen Mu understood the principle behind Wei-ah’s chop by then. He had caused the airflow to transform into something like a blade of air with that super fast chop, and that blade had hit the target.

But Chen Mu was intimidated. How powerful were Wei-ah’s muscles? He had thought he mostly understood. As he now saw it, though, it seemed that he had still underestimated them! Was that something a human could even do? In his mind, Wei-ah was incontrovertibly non-human.

Seeming to notice Chen Mu’s stiff expression, Wei-ah added, “It’s not so hard.” Hearing that, Chen Mu rolled his eyes. Not hard?

“It’s too bad you can’t concentrate on practicing the things I teach you; otherwise, you would be able to do it by now.” Wei-ah said that with a tone of regret. When he had seen Chen Mu the first time, he had felt he was suited to learn that stuff. Although Chen Mu had been learning Wei-ah’s skills all along, he was still following a completely different path even though Wei-ah’s influence could be seen everywhere along the way.

Chen Mu had some reservations about the way Wei-ah was talking. He really didn’t think he could compare with such a non-human as Wei-ah. Then, Wei-ah’s subsequent detailed explanation opened Chen Mu’s eyes. He had never imagined that Wei-ah—who barely even uttered nouns—could actually get so complex.

Mastering the strength from his muscles had been incredibly hard to do from the start, with each little muscle’s movement needing to be done properly. The popping out of the slightly bent elbow and the shaking of the wrist were related to a whole series of issues. The most frightening part was the final fluttering of the five fingers, which would determine what form the air took and what kind of power it had, as well as where it would shoot and so forth.

Each step was described in fine detail. If there were any mistakes, it wasn’t that an air blade wouldn’t be formed; its power would be greatly reduced, and it would have no way to become lethal.

It was the first time Chen Mu appreciated that the skills of the cardless sects were in no way inferior to the fine and well-known skills of card artisans.

Doing it with Wei-ah a few times, Chen Mu’s arm became so limp and sore that he could hardly raise it. That was caused by his arm not being strong enough, which made Chen Mu unable to refrain from smiling bitterly.

But he didn’t give up. He could tell what was useful and what wasn’t after having gone through what must have been 100 battles by then. If he could successfully practice that move, it would be a perfect choice for a close-range sneak attack that couldn’t be blocked.

“Practice carefully; this move can easily injure your muscles and sinews.” Wei-ah told him that just as he was about to leave. He suddenly thought of something and warned Chen Mu, “Be careful. A lot of people have been coming to Zargan lately.”

“A lot of people?” Chen Mu stopped what he had been doing and looked at Wei-ah, puzzled. He knew that when Wei-ah spoke about “a lot of people,” he was certainly talking about people with a lot of power. Wei-ah’s sensitivity to power was a lot stronger than his.

“Mmmm. Lots.” Wei-ah nodded. He then turned and disappeared without a trace.

Chen Mu sank into deep thought. Why would there be so many powerful people coming to Zargan just then? However, he quickly put the matter aside and started to practice what he had just learned.

He was really interested in that move. It would be great as a trump card he could hold in reserve.