The Card Apprentice

“Why don’t you think it over a little more, Yanbai?” Zhi Lian sighed lightly. Jie Yanbai wasn’t that highly valued at the school; if it weren’t for having good relations with Mi Xiaqing, his situation in the Central Repository of the Classics would probably have been still worse. That could be seen from the Rouged Finger legacy he’d studied, which wasn’t more than a perfectly ordinary legacy.

But, in fact, Madam Zhi Lian had always been rather critical toward the so-called direct line of legacies who studied directly under the master. It was just that it hadn’t been such an issue previously when Qiao Yuan and the rest had been there. Now, following the deaths of Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing, and with an aging and frustrated master, the Central Repository of the Classics had been suddenly plunged into a situation approaching a crisis.

Of course, that was because of that damned Tang Hanpei, but it was also directly related to the master’s style of cultivation. Previously, when people spoke about conservatism, they thought of the Star Academy or the Bitter Solitude Temple. But the true conservative was actually the Central Repository of the Classics. It was just that there would appear several geniuses every generation at the repository, which hid the flaws of the system.

Madam Zhi Lian believed Jie Yanbai did have deep feelings toward the repository and that those feelings made him want to step up to help the repository get through its difficulties. But Madam Zhi Lian believed in her heart that the snub the repository had received that year had made him feel some resentment, which was probably the reason he refused to assume the mastership.

Jie Yanbai still firmly shook his head. “It won’t do any good for the madam to keep trying to persuade me.”

Madam Zhi Lian suddenly thought of someone and then set her mind. The professor who imparted the Rouged Finger to Jie Yanbai was still at the repository, so why not let her do the persuading when the time came? Thinking of that, Madam Zhi Lian didn’t want to get more tangled up in the matter and changed the subject. “Where does Yanbai plan to go right now? Will you go back to the repository?”

Jie Yanbai muttered, “Last time, you brought up Moon Frost Island organizing something big, and I plan to go check it out.”

Madam Zhi Lian was taken aback. “You want to go to Moon Frost Island?”

“Right!” Jia Yanbai nodded hard and said boldly, “If the intelligence is right, the Heavenly Drum Village District should be in a volatile situation just now. It would be a real pity to miss such a big affair with all the heroes converging!”

Seeing Jie Yanbai’s determined expression, she knew her influence on him was limited, so she just said, “Why don’t you take some people along with you? That would set my mind at ease.”

Jie Yanbai laughed. “Please don’t concern yourself, Madam. Yanbai is not reckless. It could be inconvenient with more people and easier to be discovered. It would actually be better for me to go alone, which would also make it a lot easier to get in and out.”

Madam Zhi Lian pondered for a moment and nodded. “Fine. But since you’re going to the Heavenly Drum Village District, help me to watch for someone.”

“Oh?” Jie Yanbai was surprised. “Who?”

“Watch out for a card artisan named Qiao Yuan who has the Bipolar Card in his hands. Do you remember the Bipolar Card? I’ve told you about it before,” Madam Zhi Lian explained.

“The Bipolar Card?” Jie Yanbai thought about it and then remembered. “It was the basis for Card 007? It seems that Madam did say the Bipolar Card had been made by some predecessor in the history of the repository.”

“Right. That’s the one.” Madam Zhi Lian had a somewhat puzzled expression. “I had thought the Bipolar Card was in the hands of the one who made the numbered series of cards. I never thought it would actually be in the hands of that Qiao Yuan. It’s really strange. Now, I don’t know how that card master made Card 007.”

“Qiao Yuan…” Jie Yanbai was chewing over that name. He had been relaxing at home those last few days, and he had seen that big battle. He suddenly realized the card Qiao Yuan had been using was indeed the Bipolar Card! Now that he thought about it, it seemed quite like when Card 007 had been demonstrated.

The sort of bloody courage it took for Qiao Yuan to go one-on-two fit Jie Yanbai’s temperament. So, he abruptly showed a look of interest when he heard Madam Zhi Lian say that she hoped he might pay attention to that person.

“The best thing would be to bring it back if you can,” Madam Zhi Lian told him after some hesitation.

Jie Yanbai grunted that he’d heard while inwardly not really approving. Were there really so few legacies at the Central Repository of the Classics? The Bipolar Card was certainly a good card, but the Central Repository of the Classics didn’t lack for good cards and good legacies. What they lacked was an attitude of openness.

He had found out about the new measures taken by Madam Zhi Lian in various ways. Just as they had been brought back from the edge of the cliff, the Central Repository of the Classics had gone through another unprecedented humiliation even though everyone still really wanted to summon the courage to come out on top. Madam Zhi Lian had opened up a part of the high-level legacies to arouse students’ desire to seek admission. The current Central Repository of the Classics would have to be deemed a different era from what had gone before.

It was just that, as Jie Yanbai saw it, the Central Repository of the Classics had already accumulated a rather shocking number of cards and legacies, and they absolutely didn’t need to be covetous about what was in someone else’s hands. It would actually be more productive to just make friends with their counterpart. But he also knew quite a few people at the repository couldn’t abide their cards and legacies wandering around outside.

As for him, he didn’t have that many feelings about it. If Qiao Yuan wasn’t a bad person, he secretly thought it might be worthwhile to make friends with him.

* * *

Chen Mu and the rest were wearing masks as they walked into the city in front of them. Griffin was an ordinary mid-level city, and it was also the city Chen Mu and his party finally ran into after trekking for more than 30 days. The mysterious person behind them had been haunting them all along, and even Wei-ah displayed a rare serious expression.

That mysterious person had followed them right up until they were about to enter Griffin, when the feeling of being tracked finally disappeared. Although they didn’t quite know why, everyone still breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone had been uptight during those few days, apart from Wei-ah, who was still comparatively calm. Sang Hanshui even felt like crying, unlike little Bu Mo, who had just taken it.

Little Bu Mo had run into the city to buy the masks on Bogner’s suggestion. Following the spread of the live broadcast, masks had become immediately popular. There were masks in the style of the silvery one worn by Wen, as well as more crude bronze masks, and so forth. It seemed that one would be embarrassed to go outdoors without a mask.

The masks were especially popular among the younger card artisans. Quite a few specialty mask shops opened, and the trend-setters designed novel and unique masks, which became special new fashion lines in every city.

It wouldn’t attract the least bit of attention to enter a city wearing a mask at that time.

The first thing the party did upon entering the city was to rent a convalescent instrument. The wounds on Chen Mu’s body weren’t completely healed, though he could already deploy his perception. Unexpectedly, his perception appeared to have slightly increased. After getting to his stage, any increase in perception had become extremely difficult. It was still actual battle that would make progress easier, after all!

Along the way, he had kept reviewing and summarizing that battle. He had fleshed out his understanding of the Bipolar Card, though that wasn’t his greatest gain. When he had previously deployed his own perception, there had been no essential difference from the way other card artisans used perception.

That time, however, while in the process of struggling against Jin Yin, he had used his perception for sensing physical things. He had completely grasped the changes in the flow of the Pointed Cloudburst, and he had then constructed a model in his mind to find his adversary’s weakness. Although he hadn’t completely succeeded in his cutting of it, it still undoubtedly opened a new window for Chen Mu.

How to fight? That issue had haunted Chen Mu all along. Up until then, although he was a lot more capable than he had been, his means of fighting were still limited. His fighting skills had mostly been adapted from Wei-ah. Although he had been in contact with the demonic woman for only a short time, her influence on him had also been huge. What Mark Victor had passed along to him were some of the basics.

He didn’t lack for flexible improvisation, but he still had never found the core of battling or the fighting style most suited to him. Now, he seemed to have grasped some important things.

However, that damned guy who had been haunting them had made it basically impossible to devote himself to that kind of thinking those last few days. It was a good thing he still had a direction, and he would be gaining something for as long as he kept up his diligence.

Soaking in the healing instrument and watching little Bu Mo sweating like rain, the days had become much more comfortable.

Spending only seven days’ time, Chen Mu felt like his whole body had been renewed, as though he had exchanged it for a new one. Even the heavy feeling that came each day had flown off, with his whole body unspeakably comfortable. Using only a little energy, he could feel the huge power transmitted from his muscle and sinews.

Chen Mu was rather surprised. It seemed like his body had become stronger than before. Bu Mo stood beside him, looking on with envy. Because of his age and his body still growing, he would still have to keep at it for quite a few more years himself.

When Chen Mu turned the issue over to Wei-ah, Wei-ah looked as though it were a matter of course. “This is nothing strange. Having broken through the limits of your body, of course you would show progress after the recovery.”

Chen Mu felt stricken. “If that’s the case, can I do it over and over again to make breakthroughs?”

Wei-ah nodded. “There is indeed such a method, and the mortality rate isn’t more than 80 percent. Would you like to give it a try?”

A cold sweat poured from Chen Mu. A mortality rate of 80 percent…

He rushed to shake his head. Wei-ah’s gaze immediately turned to Bu Mo beside him, who was also sweating and desperately shaking his head as he said, “Yeah, well I’m already practicing hard the way I am. It’s great! Really!”

Wei-ah’s gaze fell onto Sang Hanshui, who nearly fainted. He desperately waved his hand, making a miserable image of himself and saying, terrified, “I am a card artisan… card artisan… and I don’t intend to change my career.”

The three of them then fled in a panic.

With his body restored, not only his strength but also his perception had progressed. Chen Mu needed to spend some time to get used to his transformed strength and perception. If he wasn’t able to get used to them, he would be like a small child with a machete; not only would he not be able to kill his enemy, but he would also be a danger to himself.

The best way to quickly adapt would be to fight against Wei-ah. The terrifying pressure when he faced Wei-ah could make Chen Mu concentrate as never before. By going along that way, his training efficiency was extremely high. As a sparring partner, Wei-ah would get the gold medal.

The results were indeed good, except it could be a little appalling to watch. Sang Hanshui was gripped with fear during those few days with the endless howling from the training field always reminding him that he was in the hands of a gang of some sort of non-humans. Fortunately, they didn’t eat human flesh. Sometimes, Sang Hanshui would even be thinking that gratefully.

Chen Mu really liked such concentrated training, but it was too bad there wasn’t much time for him to be so extravagant. That flower-like green tattoo on his wrist was becoming still more freshly green and delicate, which scared Chen Mu out of his wits.