Material Card

Xu Jian, who was lying on his side on the bed playing a game, felt his ears twitch slightly. Seeming to hear some commotion, he immediately bounced up in excitement.

The next second, the dormitory door was pulled open.

Lin Xia, Wu Ziyang, and Liu Yucheng walked in one after another.

Seeing the grave expressions on the three of them, Xu Jian's desire to celebrate vanished instantly, and he cautiously asked what had happened.

To this, Wu Ziyang paid no mind, walking straight toward his own bed.

Liu Yucheng seemed to want to say something, but ultimately shook his head and turned to leave the dormitory.

Helpless, it fell to Lin Xia to recount everything that had just occurred.

A moment later.

"Murder! This is murder!!"

Once Xu Jian understood the reason, he was first shocked, and then immediately replaced by a surge of anger.

His fists clenched and unclenched, until finally, he slammed them hard against his own thigh.

However, at this moment, Xu Jian did not know that Lin Xia was the first to clear the Secret Realm.

Otherwise, he would only be even more shocked.

Of course, up to this point, Lin Xia had not told anyone that he had already reached Level 7.

This was not because he was particularly low-key, but simply because he felt that saying such things now... would be too inappropriate.

After all, the teachers, students, and parents were all still immersed in the grief and anger of losing their loved ones. They say human nature is selfish; if Lin Xia were to announce his "good news" now, it would likely cause a stir.

Just like that, Lin Xia stayed in the dormitory for the whole day, even having his meals brought back by Xu Jian.

As night fell, Liu Yucheng returned.

When he brushed past Lin Xia, a strong scent of incense flooded into Lin Xia's nostrils.

This smell was not only pleasant but also made one feel inexplicably at ease.

"Did you go to a temple to burn incense?"

Xu Jian smelled it too, so he asked.

To this, Liu Yucheng simply nodded and began to tidy his bed in preparation for rest.

This guy... what on earth did he go do?

Lin Xia murmured to himself, as he noticed dried blood on the back of Liu Yucheng's hand—something that definitely wasn't there before he left...

"Knock, knock, knock!!"

Just then, accompanied by a knock, the dormitory door was opened.

Director Xie Feng walked in.

The eyes of the four people in the dormitory were instantly drawn to him, their faces full of questions: why was he here so late?

Xie Feng gently closed the door, took a deep breath, and came to the side of Lin Xia's bed.

After receiving Lin Xia's permission, he sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Lin Xia..."

Xie Feng's troubled appearance made everyone's brows knit even tighter, and combined with the hesitant smile on his face, the atmosphere in the dormitory turned icy cold.

"As the first person to achieve the freshman milestone, we had originally planned to announce your results publicly after today's Secret Realm trip and present the school's rewards...

But after what happened, I discussed it with the other teachers, and we decided not to hold a grand award ceremony for you.

You... don't mind, do you?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Jian and Liu Yucheng both widened their eyes.

They could certainly understand what Xie Feng meant—Lin Xia had completed the first achievement to reach Bronze!

One had to know that before the final tally, Liu Yucheng had pulled an all-nighter playing ranked matches and had only reached Black Iron 3.

And when he returned, Lin Xia had been fast asleep.

Liu Yucheng had assumed Lin Xia had given up, which was why he...

Now it seemed that Lin Xia had completed the achievement early... and was just resting!

Xu Jian first narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at Xie Feng, as if confirming whether this old guy was joking.

"No way, brother!?"

Immediately after, his eyes lit up. He jumped off the bed and walked toward Lin Xia, even putting on a fainting act, stumbling as if he were about to collapse. "You, you, you... it's one thing to brag a little normally, but how did you actually do it!?"

To this, Lin Xia merely shrugged, not saying much.

"It's not that I fear my brother is weak; it's that I fear my brother isn't working as hard as me, yet is still stronger than me."

Wu Ziyang, having no interest in Lin Xia's extraordinary feats, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Liu Yucheng with a mocking, gossipy smile. "Am I right?"

These words were like an ice blade, stabbing fiercely into Liu Yucheng's heart.

He was indeed jealous of Lin Xia to the point of grinding his teeth.

Yet, this was an emotion buried deep within his heart, only to be laid bare in public now...

"I have no brothers."

Liu Yucheng clenched his fists, glaring fiercely at Wu Ziyang.

At this moment, Xie Feng continued:

"You should have already learned the knowledge regarding Reinforce Card. Regardless of whether the card reinforcement succeeds, you must at least have Material Cards to activate the Reinforcement Pillar and perform the reinforcement operation.

For every Awakener, the Material Cards they require are different.

Take your SSR Summon Card, for instance; it has an OVR Value of 89, right?

If you want to reinforce that card, you will need five Material Cards that also have an OVR Value of 89!"

"Mm."

Lin Xia nodded. Material Cards must have the same overall rating as the Main Card, and in five times the quantity—this was taught in class.

"Material Cards with an OVR Value over 80 are already considered precious resources. They are not only expensive but also have an extremely low drop rate.

This is why many Awakeners do not attempt to reinforce high-grade Main Cards; it is not that they fear failure, but that they cannot gather the necessary Material Cards."

As Xie Feng said this, he opened his inventory panel, his face showing signs of fatigue. "Although Material Cards with an OVR of 89 are very difficult to obtain, Imperial University cannot break its promise to any student. These five Material Cards are your reward."

"Swish—!"

Five cards appeared in Xie Feng's palm, slowly rotating in mid-air.

These cards had no images on them; they were covered in a clean white, with the deep black number [89] written in the center.

"Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, school."

Although Lin Xia appeared calm, he was thrilled inside.

He had been worrying about where he, with no money or influence, would ever find five Material Cards with an 89 rating.

Now, the Material Cards had been delivered right to his doorstep!

However, Lin Xia soon fell into melancholy again. He had to remember that the new card he had obtained, [Vegeta], had a rating of... 94!!

With such a high rating... needing five Material Cards with a 94 rating to reinforce it, wasn't that going to be the death of him?!

Although Vegeta was already very powerful without reinforcement.

But Lin Xia wanted to reinforce him; after all, he possessed the ability of Precognition of Success Node!

"You're welcome; this was rightfully your reward to begin with."

Xie Feng scratched his head with a hint of apology. "I still feel guilty for not being able to hold an award ceremony for you."

Hearing this, Lin Xia expressed that he never liked those formalities anyway, and it was better that they weren't held.

Following this, Xie Feng and Lin Xia chatted for a while longer.

Xie Feng asked Lin Xia when he planned to go reinforce his cards.

Lin Xia said he would go first thing tomorrow morning.

Upon hearing this, Xie Feng cautioned him not to get carried away when reinforcing the cards, then pulled out an admission ticket.

Due to the events of the afternoon, the Reinforcement Pillar exclusive to Imperial University had been sealed off by the enforcers.

Therefore, Xie Feng told Lin Xia to go to the public Reinforcement Pillar in the city...

Following Xie Feng's departure, Xu Jian immediately came to Lin Xia's side and began to butter him up.

But because Lin Xia was too tired, Xu Jian returned to his bed after only a short while, still feeling unsatisfied.

The dormitory lights were then turned off.

Before long, everyone fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time, in a damp and dark basement, a man who was severely injured and on the verge of death was being resuscitated.