The main card was Fist Fighter, with the attributes Fighter, Human, and Boxing.
The material card was Human Bone Bodhi Prayer Beads, with the attributes Buddha, Human Bone, Wrathful Thoughts, and Strange.
That more or less locked in the card's final form: a fierce fighter with the Buddha attribute, an evil martial monk who was neither wholly righteous nor wholly wicked.
Actually, some of the Dharma Protector Vajras in Buddhism were the most suitable choice;
These Vajras had originally been demons and yakshas, but after being enlightened by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they became Vajra deities who eliminated evil.
They were beings who had originally been evil but later turned to goodness. That would instead allow the Strange attribute to be transformed into divine power.
But Lin Chen had already deduced that to create a God Card, he needed the support of faith and incense offerings.
The reason the Door God had been successfully created before was that he had borrowed the incense power left behind in the Ruined City God Temple.
There was no incense support now. It was definitely impossible to position the card spirit at the divine level.
Otherwise, with Lin Chen's reserves of Mythological History, he could make a whole skyful of Gods and Buddhas with any white card.
Since the existing materials consisted of only two green cards, the card spirit could not be positioned too high or made too powerful. He could only focus on human heroes.
Lin Chen's thoughts gradually became clear. The most suitable choice was still to follow the path that had succeeded before and continue copying the answer from Water Margin!
In Water Margin, there was a reckless martial monk with the strength to uproot a willow and the boldness that soared to the clouds;
Although he was not powerful enough to kill a Strange with one punch, he still had the strength to kill a man with three punches!
He was clearly a monk, yet he disliked meditating and sitting in contemplation, and had no qualms about wine and meat passing through his bowels;
He dared to feast on dog trotters before the Buddha, and in his drunkenness smashed the Jialan and revealed his divine nature;
He loved nothing but killing and arson, yet after slaughtering his way through life, he ultimately became a Buddha.
Because although he was reckless, crude, and rude, he possessed a scarlet-hot heart of chivalrous justice.
He beat evil men, saved the old and the weak, cursed empty hypocrites, and lived with genuine passion;
He harbored a Bodhisattva Heart and wielded Thunderbolt Methods!
Only such a character truly embodied the Buddha attribute.
He was the finest character for embodying the spirit of Water Margin!
Moreover, Liu Huan had famously appraised this character: "The stars above join the Northern Dipper; when I see injustice, I let out a roar."
This was the Lone Star of Solitude—the Flower Monk, Lu Zhishen!
The setting of a Demonic Star descending to earth resonated with the Strange attribute;
The monk's identity and attire matched the Bodhi prayer beads and Buddha attribute;
His crude and reckless personality fit the wrathful thoughts;
His strength in uprooting the weeping willow was enough to qualify as a fighter;
And his feat of killing Guanxi Strongman with three punches was even more worthy of being titled a boxer.
All the material attributes matched. He was the most perfect subject for card creation!
Most importantly, this also perfectly suited Chen Xiao Diao's tastes and needs.
The only thing missing was a weapon that felt right in the hand. Lu Zhishen's standard equipment was a Zen staff and a ringed saber.
Therefore, Lin Chen had Chen Xiao Diao search the market for materials with staff and saber attributes.
Chen Xiao Diao swallowed her pride and borrowed some money from a colleague. She bought an Alloy Baseball Bat (White) and a Sha-Tainted Willow Leaf Saber (White), completing the final materials.
Once everything was ready, Chen Xiao Diao took out a green-grade Concentration Incense.
This was the monthly subsidized item for beginner Card Masters in the Security Bureau. It could focus the mind, enhance rationality, and dispel evil thoughts.
With the support of the Concentration Incense, the risk of contamination during card creation could also be greatly reduced;
Chen Xiao Diao had only this last stick left. She had truly gone all in. After all, she could not let Lin Chen take too great a risk to help her create the card.
Lin Chen concentrated and raised his brush, beginning his first attempt at creating a card for someone else.
The materials were stacked one after another atop the Fist Fighter main card;
As usual, Lin Chen visualized and recited a description of Lu Zhishen's appearance from Water Margin:
"Eight or nine feet tall, with the body of a fierce beast, he breathed out three thousand zhang of soaring ambition;
Along the seams of his mouth clustered a thousand strands of iron thread severed from heads, while across his chest grew a strip of hair that made the bold-hearted tremble. His face was born to eat meat and fish, not to read sutras and chant before Buddha.
His Zen staff opened the road between life and death, his ringed saber slew every unjust man. If he was not a guest who subdued tigers and dragons, then he was surely a man who swallowed whales and drank seas!"
Chen Xiao Diao's fingernails nearly dug into her palms. She had set out full of excitement, but when the card creation truly began, she belatedly realized how nervous she was!
Although she trusted Lin Chen's card-making ability completely, she was still afraid!
After all, she had invested her entire fortune. This string of Human Bone Bodhi Prayer Beads had nearly cost her half her life to obtain;
If the card creation failed, forget the mockery from everyone else—even the debt she owed her colleague would be enough to turn her into a beast of burden on the spot!
What made her even more panicked was the strange aura and evil thoughts carried by the Human Bone Bodhi Prayer Beads;
If Lin Chen were infected by that evil aura and transformed into a Strange, Chen Xiao Diao feared she would have to die to atone for her crime.
This was the plight of bottom-level Card Masters. Without background or wealth, they could only use cheap strange objects to create cards. Every attempt was a desperate gamble that risked their entire fortune!
Lin Chen had indeed been affected somewhat by the strange object at first, but once Lu Zhishen took shape in his mind's inner realm;
All those wrathful thoughts and strange energies were absorbed into Lu Zhishen's card spirit. They became completely docile and instead turned into nourishment for condensing the card spirit.
And just as when he had created Wu Song last time, the starlight in the heavens seemed to sense something, and a streak of starlight fell into the card.
Lin Chen had had no time to sense it last time, but his mental power was sharper now;
He clearly sensed that streak of starlight, which bestowed immense spirituality upon Lu Zhishen.
The starlight flashed and vanished. Lin Chen gathered his spirit, and a card with a light-blue border was complete.
Chen Xiao Diao eagerly leaned her head over, rose onto her tiptoes, and stared. The next second, she could not help crying out:
"Good heavens! It's actually a blue card!!"
The author has brought Chen Xiao Diao along to ask for votes and follows!
This book is currently in the new-book cataloging stage and needs everyone's votes and reading support! Help increase its exposure and get it recommended—many thanks!
Chen Xiao Diao eagerly leaned her head over: "Good heavens, it's actually a monthly pass!!"
Chapter 17: Brother Chen, why don't the two of us become sworn siblings too!
Lin Chen had actually helped her create a Rare Grade blue card!
Chen Xiao Diao had estimated that Lin Chen was extremely skilled at card creation, but she had never imagined he would be this skilled!
Normally, for a turquoise-grade card to advance to a blue card, at least four or five green materials had to be piled together.
What she had originally hoped for was to take a turquoise-grade card and push it to deep green. Once she gathered enough materials next time, she could combine and advance it again, then attempt to break through to blue.
Who could have known that Lin Chen would take her all the way there in one step!
Two green cards and two white cards had produced a blue card.
Creating a card beyond one's grade—terrifying indeed!
With a blue card, she was qualified to apply to become an intermediate Card Master. She could be considered to have entered the halls of the Card Master world.
The leaders of the various groups in the Card Association Security Bureau had to be intermediate Card Masters who possessed blue cards.
Chen Xiao Diao was merely a young patrol guard who had only recently become a Card Master. How could she possibly deserve to possess a blue card!
After the excitement faded, Chen Xiao Diao's only thought was: I'm doomed. I have to pay more now! Where would I even get the money?!
Lin Chen slapped the card into Chen Xiao Diao's hands and gestured for her to hurry up and summon the card spirit to test it.
Chen Xiao Diao swallowed, injected her spiritual power, and established a spiritual connection with the card.
The next second, a hulking, muscular, fat monk leaped out of midair:
He wore monk's robes with his chest bared, had thick brows and large eyes, bristles like steel wire, a string of Human Bone Rosary around his neck, a ringed saber tucked at his waist, and a Water-ground Zen staff resting on his shoulder. His gaze swept arrogantly over all beneath heaven, and his expression was wild and unrestrained.
Looking at Lu Zhishen's physique, which was an entire circle more massive than Wu Song's, Chen Xiao Diao's eyes were already sparkling;
Then she began examining the card information:
Card Name: Xiangguo Temple's Mad Zen Demonic Monk · Lu Zhishen Type: Human / Fighter / Monk Quality: Rare Grade · Light-Blue Border · Three-Star Traits: Demonic Bone Buddha Heart: Lu Zhishen was both Buddha and demon. He possessed a physical body as powerful as a yaksha's, as well as a scarlet-hot Bodhi Heart. He had extremely high resistance and affinity to both the Strange and Buddha attributes. Mad Zen Wrathful Thoughts: Lu Zhishen was crude and unrestrained by nature, Hated Evil Like an Enemy, disliked precepts, and became angry with extreme ease, making him prone to disobeying his Card Master's orders. Those who fought against Lu Zhishen would all be affected by his wrathful thoughts, becoming irritable and unable to remain calm. Wine and Meat Pass Through the Bowels: Lu Zhishen was gluttonous for wine and meat, and could recover spiritual power by absorbing them. Eating too much would trigger the Drunken Frenzy state. In the Drunken Frenzy state, he ignored all orders and his destructive power doubled. Hidden Trait (visible only to the Card Master and card creator): Fallen Evil Star: Lu Zhishen was a Star Spirit descended to earth. He possessed high spirituality and growth potential and could evolve into a Heroic Spirit Card. Skills: Evil-Suppressing Three Punches: Lu Zhishen Hated Evil Like an Enemy and unleashed three swift, ferocious punches in succession, inflicting a stunning and critical-damage effect on Strange and evil enemies. Strength to Uproot Willows: Lu Zhishen used giant-like strength to perform a grappling throw, capable of destroying terrain, vegetation, and buildings. Calamity-Crossing Zen Staff: Lu Zhishen wielded a sixty-two-jin iron Water-ground Zen staff, adding a shockwave effect that broke through calamity.
Lu Zhishen's card still maintained the robust physique of the Fighter sequence and its inhuman physical destructive power.
But the reason Lu Zhishen was worthy of a blue card lay in his high resistance to the Strange and Buddha attributes;
Moreover, the Mad Zen Wrathful Thoughts trait could provoke the wrathful thoughts hidden in an enemy's heart. This mental quality made up for the Fist Fighter's previous weakness in the mental aspect.
If he fought Wu Song again, Wu Song's Killing Intent, which shook the mind and spirit, would have no effect on Lu Zhishen.
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