Material Cards

Xu Jian was lying on his side in bed, gaming, when his ears twitched slightly as if he'd heard something. He sprang up in excitement.

The next second, the dormitory door opened.

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

But when Xu Jian saw their grave expressions, his desire to celebrate vanished. He cautiously asked what had happened.

Wu Ziyang ignored him and walked straight to his bed.

Liu Yucheng seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end he shook his head and turned to leave the dormitory.

With no other choice, Lin Xia explained everything that had just happened.

A moment later.

"Murder! This was murder!!"

Once Xu Jian understood what had happened, he was first shocked, then overcome with anger.

His fists clenched and unclenched until he finally slammed one hard against his thigh.

However, Xu Jian didn't know that Lin Xia had been the first to clear the secret realm.

Otherwise, he would've been even more shocked.

Of course, Lin Xia hadn't told anyone yet that he was already level 7.

It wasn't because he was especially modest. He simply felt that bringing it up now... would be completely inappropriate.

After all, the teachers, students, and parents were still immersed in grief and anger over the loss of their loved ones. People said human nature was selfish, and if Lin Xia announced his "good news" at a time like this, it would probably cause an uproar.

So Lin Xia spent the entire day in the dormitory. Xu Jian even brought his meals back for him.

As night fell, Liu Yucheng returned.

As he brushed past Lin Xia, a strong smell of incense wafted into Lin Xia's nose.

The scent was not only pleasant but also brought an inexplicable sense of calm.

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

Xu Jian had noticed the smell too, so he asked.

Liu Yucheng simply nodded and began tidying his bed, preparing to rest.

What the hell did that guy go out to do?

Lin Xia muttered to himself, having noticed dried blood on the back of Liu Yucheng's hand. There hadn't been any before he left...

"Knock, knock, knock!!"

Just then, the dormitory door opened with a knock.

Director Xie Feng walked in.

The four people in the dormitory immediately turned to look at him, questions written all over their faces. What was he doing here so late?

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

After Lin Xia gave him permission, he sat down on the bed.

"Sorry, Lin Xia..."

Xie Feng looked troubled, making everyone furrow their brows even more. His wavering smile only made the atmosphere in the dormitory turn icy.

"As the first person to achieve the freshman milestone, we'd planned to publicly announce your results and present you with the school's reward after today's secret realm trip...

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

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

At this, Xu Jian and Liu Yucheng both widened their eyes.

They could tell what Xie Feng meant—Lin Xia had been the first to reach Bronze!

Before the results were finalized, Liu Yucheng had stayed up all night playing ranked matches and only made it to Black Iron 3.

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

Liu Yucheng had assumed Lin Xia had given up, and that was why...

Now it turned out Lin Xia had already achieved the milestone... and was resting!

Xu Jian narrowed his eyes and stared at Xie Feng, as if trying to make sure the old guy wasn't joking.

"No way, man!?"

Then his eyes lit up. He jumped off the bed and walked over to Lin Xia, pretending to faint as he staggered like he was about to fall over. "Y-you... You usually just brag, but how did you actually pull it off!?"

Lin Xia only shrugged, saying nothing more.

"I'm not afraid of my buddy being weak. I'm afraid he didn't work harder than me and still turned out stronger."

Wu Ziyang had no interest in Lin Xia's incredible achievement. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Liu Yucheng with a taunting, gleeful grin. "Am I right?"

Those words pierced Liu Yucheng's heart like an icy blade.

He was indeed so jealous of Lin Xia that his teeth hurt.

But those feelings had been buried deep inside him, and now someone had exposed them in front of everyone...

"I don't have any buddies."

Liu Yucheng clenched his fists and glared at Wu Ziyang.

Xie Feng continued:

"You should've already learned about Reinforce Cards. Leaving aside whether the reinforcement succeeds, you need Material Cards to activate a Reinforcement Pillar and reinforce a Card.

"Every Awakener needs different Material Cards.

"For example, that SSR Summon Card of yours has an OVR Value of 89, right?

"If you want to reinforce it, you'll need five Material Cards with the same OVR Value of 89!"

"Mm."

Lin Xia nodded. The Material Cards had to match the Main Card's overall rating, and he needed five of them—the lesson had covered that.

"Material Cards with an OVR Value above 80 are already considered precious resources. They're not only expensive, but also extremely rare.

"That's why many Awakeners don't try to reinforce high-grade Main Cards. They aren't worried about failing; they simply can't gather the Material Cards."

As he spoke, Xie Feng opened his inventory panel, looking tired. "Though Material Cards with an OVR Value of 89 are extremely hard to get, the Imperial University can't break its word to any student. These five Material Cards are your reward."

"Whoosh—!"

Five Cards appeared in Xie Feng's palm, slowly rotating in midair.

There were no pictures on them. They were covered in clean white, with the dark number [89] written right in the middle.

"Thank you, teacher. Thank you, school."

Lin Xia kept a calm expression, but inside, he was thrilled.

He'd been worrying about how to get five Material Cards with an 89 rating when he had neither money nor connections.

Now, the Material Cards had come straight to him!

But Lin Xia soon found himself worrying again. The Card he'd just obtained, [Vegeta], had... a rating of 94!!

With a rating that high... he'd need five Material Cards with a rating of 94 to reinforce it. Wasn't that going to kill him?!

Vegeta was already plenty powerful even without reinforcement.

But Lin Xia wanted to reinforce him anyway. After all, he had the ability to see the Precognition of Success Node!

"You're welcome. This is what you deserve."

Xie Feng scratched his head apologetically. "I also feel guilty that we couldn't hold an award ceremony for you."

Lin Xia told him he'd never liked those formalities anyway, so not having one was better.

Xie Feng and Lin Xia talked for a while longer.

Xie Feng asked when Lin Xia planned to reinforce his Card.

Lin Xia said he'd go first thing tomorrow morning.

Xie Feng reminded him not to get carried away while reinforcing his Card, then took out an admission ticket.

Because of what had happened that afternoon, the Imperial University's private Reinforcement Pillar had been sealed off by the law enforcers.

So Xie Feng told Lin Xia to use a public Reinforcement Pillar in the city...

After Xie Feng left, Xu Jian immediately came over to Lin Xia and started sucking up to him.

But Lin Xia was too tired, and they hadn't talked for long before Xu Jian reluctantly returned to his bed.

The dormitory lights went out as well.

Before long, everyone had fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, in a damp, dim basement, a gravely wounded man lay at death's door as someone tried to save him.