First Card Repair

"Little Duke!"

Bob was always the first to arrive at Little Sam's Card Shop. Since he couldn't repair cards, he was mainly responsible for logistics and greeting customers; diligence was the only way he could keep his job.

"Morning, Bob."

"Morning, morning." Bob looked Duke over with a hint of surprise.

He wore a white shirt as a base layer, a blue neckerchief around his collar, and a thin, dark blue jacket over it. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. On the lower half, he wore coffee-colored casual pants, a brown belt, and a pair of black cap-toe leather shoes.

A brown leather tool bag was slung over his shoulder.

His dark brown hair had a slight natural wave, about fifteen centimeters long, parted three-seven. His handsome face had distinct features, and his skin was full of collagen.

Compared to before, Duke at this moment exuded an indescribable vigor, coupled with a carefree aura.

Just his appearance alone surpassed most people.

"Bob, what do I need to do? Did the boss give any instructions?" Duke was no longer an apprentice, so he needed to ask about his new job.

Bob snapped back to attention and quickly said, "The boss announced three days ago that you've been promoted to a regular employee. There are no specific tasks assigned for now, just to follow him or the three Card Masters to learn card repair techniques."

"Okay."

"Um..." Bob looked puzzled. "Little Duke, what did you do? The boss suddenly promoted you?"

"Nothing much, I just opened my Spirit Sea." Duke replied with a smile. It wasn't a secret, nor was there any need to hide it, much like getting accepted into university after the college entrance exam.

"O-opened your Spirit Sea!" Bob's eyes widened. "You mean... you opened your Spirit Sea? You really succeeded?"

"Yes."

"Oh, ah... Congratulations, Little Duke." Bob's smile was a little strained.

Duke didn't mind and simply said, "The Card Masters aren't here yet. If there are no other work arrangements, I'll go read for a while."

"Okay, feel free."

Bob watched as Duke went to a corner, took out a book from his tool bag, and flipped through it. He then took a deep breath and quickly walked towards the repair area, grabbing Bobby, who was lazily wiping a table.

Bobby was his son.

"Go congratulate Duke quickly."

"What?" Bobby looked half-asleep.

"Go congratulate Duke. You're good friends, aren't you? He's successfully opened his Spirit Sea and become a Spiritual Apprentice. He'll definitely become a Card Master in the future."

Bobby froze for a moment, then exclaimed, "How is that possible!"

As a fellow apprentice, Bobby found this hard to believe.

He knew Duke had secretly saved money, buying Qi Boosting Potions and Blood Boiling Potions, but neither his Qi Sea nor his Blood Sea had opened. It was clear he was just an ordinary person like everyone else, with no cultivation talent.

Moreover, among the Three Seas, the Spirit Sea was the hardest to open.

"He couldn't even open his Qi Sea or Blood Sea, so how could he open his Spirit Sea!" Bobby shook his head. "Dad, don't lie to me."

Smack!

Bob slapped Bobby on the head. "Go!"

Bobby wasn't stupid. Seeing his father's serious expression, he had no choice but to believe, even if he didn't want to. He dropped the rag and reluctantly went to congratulate Duke.

"Duke..."

"What is it, Bobby?" Duke asked knowingly. After opening his Spirit Sea, his senses had become much sharper, and he had overheard the conversation between the father and son.

"Did you open your Spirit Sea?"

"Indeed."

"No way, you really opened it?" Bobby was still a bit unconvinced. "How did you open your Spirit Sea? Didn't you just fail to open your Blood Sea? This is too unbelievable."

"I borrowed some money from the boss, bought a Spirit Awakening Potion, and took a gamble. Then, I won the gamble." As Duke spoke, he took out a Spirit Card from his pocket and waved it. "The day before yesterday, I went to Chen Jiao City with the transport, and registered as a Spiritual Apprentice at the Spirit Tower."

"Spirit Card!" Bobby's eyes widened.

He wanted to take the Spirit Card to get a closer look, but he felt too embarrassed. After all, just a few days ago, he and Thomas had been mocking Duke for wasting money and foolishly trying to open the Three Seas.

This turn of events was too sudden for him.

So, upon confirming that Duke had truly opened his Spirit Sea, Bobby felt a little awkward. He mumbled, "You're really lucky. Congratulations. I'm going to go wipe the tables now."

"Go ahead." Duke waved his hand.

He was in a genuinely good mood.

From the attitudes of Bob and Bobby, he could clearly feel that opening his Spirit Sea, even as a newly registered One-Star Spiritual Apprentice, was a huge leap in status.

In the extraordinary world, extraordinary power was the truth.

When it was eight in the morning, Old Sam entered the shop. Duke immediately shared the good news of opening his Spirit Sea.

After his initial surprise, Old Sam was very happy for Duke. "This way, your chances of becoming an Erudite have increased significantly. Keep up the good work, you lucky and clever young man."

Duke seized the opportunity and said, "Boss, I want to try repairing a waste spirit card."

"Hmm, have you cultivated Spirit Liquid?"

"Yes."

"Then find some scrap cards and try it yourself. I'm too lazy to repair cards right now, so you can use my workstation."

There were naturally piles of scrap Spirit Dragon Cards in the card repair shop. Duke selected the most common one and then turned on the Spirit Card diagnostic machine to check its energy circuits.

As the machine activated the energy circuits, it was revealed that the energy circuits within this Spirit Dragon Card were shattered into countless small segments, like a comminuted fracture.

"Xiao Yi, assist me in repairing it."

"Okay, Master. Xiao Yi will tell Master the repair steps, and Master will personally perform the repair."

Xiao Yi was the best intelligent assistant tool, but unfortunately, it couldn't materialize or control Duke's hands directly. It could only provide theoretical and technical support.

"The ring of this Spirit Dragon Card is broken into twenty-seven small segments. Based on the normal ring, it's estimated that six more energy pathways have dissipated, making it impossible to complete the card repair."

"It doesn't need to be fixed. Just practice. Let's work together and connect one energy pathway."

Peel off the cover, pry open the card shell.

Duke was already very familiar with these basic card repair procedures.

At this point, the energy pathways were fully exposed to his sight.

He picked up a "Spirit Channeling Pen," which was a type of Spirit Tool that could perfectly transmit the operator's Spirituality and convert it into stable Spirit Energy to draw energy pathways.

Instantly.

He felt the Spirit Liquid in his Spirit Sea flowing through his arm and slowly towards the Spirit Channeling Pen.

Duke suppressed his thoughts, focused on the scrap Dragon Spirit Card, and with Xiao Yi's assistance, found two energy pathways that were barely connected. Then, the Spirit Channeling Pen slowly touched down.

With a pop.

A large amount of Spiritual Power surged from the pen tip, directly smearing the energy pathways. The excessive Spirit Energy instantly overloaded and destroyed these two pathways.

"Too much energy infusion, repair failed," Xiao Yi concluded.

"I know. Let's try again."

For an entire hour, Duke tirelessly repaired the Spirit Dragon Card, damaging all the energy pathways on the card without successfully repairing even one.

"It sounds simple, but doing it... is really difficult!"