Fool

The entire afternoon was spent in story compilation class, and Lu Su kept yawning throughout.

But he still forced himself to listen until the end. Although he had countless anime stories in his head,

turning them into cards in a logical way was a field of study in itself.

After finally enduring until school was out, Lu Su was blocked in the classroom by Du Heng. "Lu Su, let's have a match first today!"

Did this guy not consider that a card would enter a twenty-four-hour cooldown after dying?

Brainless and arrogant. Lu Su silently slapped two labels onto Du Heng, while saying perfunctorily, "Forget it. I have something urgent to deal with at home today. Besides, tomorrow is the ranking test. Just bear with it."

When Du Heng refused to move aside, Lu Su forcibly squeezed past him.

Du Heng watched Lu Su's departing figure with a dark expression.

"Hmph, lucky bastard. First place will be mine."

After boarding the bus, Lu Su headed all the way back to his shabby little apartment.

Sitting before his computer, he quietly took stock of what he had gained so far.

First were the seven Ghoul (Green) cards. They were materials condensed from the ghouls he had killed earlier. Lu Su did not intend to use them himself, so he priced them at twenty thousand Great Ming Treasure Notes each and listed all seven materials on the trading website.

Next was the Elite Ghoul (Purple). It was one of the materials Lu Su had reserved for his next card, so naturally he would not trade it away.

As for cash, Shanghai City No. 1 High School rewarded students entering the advanced class with one hundred and fifty thousand Great Ming Treasure Notes. A Black Iron Grade Card Master received a monthly subsidy of twenty thousand. Adding the one hundred thousand reward for his righteous deed and the leftover money from the online loans he had spent before, Lu Su now had a little over two hundred and eighty thousand in cash.

Thinking of that, he could not help letting out a breath. Life was finally getting better.

Picking up his phone, Lu Su sent a message to someone saved in his contacts as Brother Hu.

"Brother Hu, I've gathered the money. Is it convenient for you to come over today? I want to settle what I owed before."

Elsewhere, a bald, muscular man stared thoughtfully at a message from a contact saved as Lu Su, student, no potential, possible development target.

This man was naturally Brother Hu.

"He's gathered enough money? Borrowing to repay loans? Or..."

After thinking for a moment, Brother Hu replied to Lu Su, "Sure, Classmate Luo. We'll be right over."

After replying, Brother Hu raised his head and called out, "Skinny, take the contract and come out with me."

"The contract's on the shelf for potential targets."

"Got it, Brother Hu," the man called Skinny replied.

Before long, the two drove to the Happy Home residential complex.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The sound of knocking echoed through the empty corridor.

"Coming." A response came from inside, and the door soon opened.

It was Lu Su.

"You're Brother Hu, right? Come in. No need to change your shoes."

After the three sat down on the sofa, Lu Su pushed an envelope from the coffee table toward them.

"There's one hundred and twenty thousand inside. That should cover the interest too, right?"

As he spoke, Lu Su summoned Tsugikuni Yoriichi.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi stood quietly against the wall, arms around his sword, watching the two online lenders.

"A Card Master..."

Brother Hu's eyes narrowed when he saw Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He had not expected the boy before him to truly become a registered Card Master. The investigation from back then had clearly indicated that his talent was lacking.

But a smile immediately appeared on his face. "Congratulations on becoming a Card Master, Classmate Luo. How about this? You don't need to repay the money. Consider it a gift from Duo Duo Finance to congratulate you."

As he spoke, he took the contract from Skinny and tore it into pieces right in front of Lu Su.

Lu Su sneered inwardly at Brother Hu's performance.

One never offers kindness without a reason.

Besides, Lu Su had no intention of getting involved with these gray-market businesses.

Though that was what he thought, Lu Su still wore a fake smile. "A person cannot stand without trust. Brother Hu, you should take the money. Repay what you borrow, and borrowing again will be easy."

Brother Hu's smile froze at those words. This brat would not yield to either soft or hard tactics.

Unfortunately, Brother Hu was an experienced operator. Naturally, he would not offend a registered Card Master from the Card Master Association over a mere hundred thousand or so.

Even if Lu Su was only a lowly Black Iron Grade Card Master.

After a moment of silence, Brother Hu smiled and accepted the money. "Classmate Luo truly has high principles. I'm ashamed by comparison. Then you and Duo Duo Finance are even from now on."

"We won't disturb you any longer."

With that, Brother Hu left Lu Su's home with Skinny.

Downstairs, Skinny leaned close to Brother Hu and said in a low voice, "Big Brother, that kid doesn't know what's good for him."

Slap!

Before he could finish, a heavy slap landed across his face.

Brother Hu stared at Skinny with eyes as cold and venomous as a snake. "Idiot. Say something like that again, and I'll send you to join your seniors as material."

"Our priority is keeping a low profile. Are you crazy, or am I crazy? You actually want to make a move against a registered Card Master."

Skinny looked into Brother Hu's vicious eyes and thought of what had happened to several of his seniors. He could not help shuddering.

Covering his already swollen face, he lowered his head and did not dare meet Brother Hu's gaze. "I was wrong, Brother Hu. It won't happen again."

Brother Hu snorted coldly. "Let's go. On to the next one. The next family can't afford the repayment money."

Having paid off his debt, Lu Su felt a huge weight lift from his heart. His most pressing problem had been resolved. Now, it was time to consider making his next card.

He already had several options for the next one.

His first choice was definitely Kokushibo—Tsugikuni Kokushibo.

First, this card could form a Bond with the Tsugikuni Yoriichi he already had. Second, as Upper Rank One, Kokushibo's strength was certainly sufficient.

If the materials were good enough, Lu Su even felt that he could make a push for Gold Quality.

But Kokushibo also had a major weakness: he feared sunlight.

Therefore, if Lu Su wanted to create Kokushibo, he would need to find a way to solve that problem.

However, for now, he only had the Elite Ghoul (Purple) material. He had yet to acquire the other materials, so there was plenty of time to refine the concept for his next card.

"I'm still desperately short of money."

Thinking of that, Lu Su could not help sighing. Even the most useless and least versatile purple materials started at one hundred and fifty thousand, let alone powerful materials.

And those were only Black Iron Grade materials.

Higher-grade materials were often available in name only. Powerful Card Masters preferred bartering for them.

But as a student, he had no legal way to obtain money in the short term.

If he wanted to earn money, he could only hope that Shanghai City No. 1 High School would win the Four-School Joint Examination a month from now.

However, in his memories, Shanghai City No. 1 High School had never performed particularly well in previous years.

Shaking the tangled thoughts from his mind, Lu Su prepared to begin today's meditation.

The meditation method taught in Great Ming was the "Deep Blue Meditation Method," supposedly spread by the burly Lu Sheng.

It was worth mentioning that nearly everyone in Great Ming cultivated the "Deep Blue Meditation Method."

The surviving countries in this world were largely the same. There were no special meditation methods passed down through families.

Thus, meditation methods would not become shackles that hindered a Card Master's advancement.

What truly prevented Card Masters from progressing further was their ability to construct stories.