Chapter 1

Cool City.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Su Li returned to his cheap rented room and pulled a white card from his chest, a hint of joy inevitably appearing on his face.

[Destitute Girl]

Rank: White

Type: Character

Skills: None

Description: A girl living in poverty and distress, whose life is not going well.

Staring intently at this white card, Su Li's eyes suddenly clouded with a hazy luster, flowing with strange patterns as he tilted his head slightly.

On the wall of the rented room, an image slowly emerged, moving from near to far, from blurry to clear.

Under the starry sky, the girl sat on the lawn with her legs hugged to her chest. Her skin was delicate, but she was covered in grime, and her clothes were patched in many places. Her expression was melancholic, looking troubled by some matter.

At this moment, information flooded into Su Li's mind.

This card can be strengthened. The options are as follows:

① The awakening ceremony is imminent, yet the girl is suffering from school bullying. Her patched clothes are being torn while she is insulted, making her feel even more inferior. This will inevitably affect her ability awakening ceremony, potentially leading to failure. Perhaps a brand-new, beautiful outfit and appropriate comfort would help her regain her confidence?

Is this a character card from an ability world? There is only one way to strengthen it, so there is no choice to be made.

Su Li opened his phone, thought for a moment, and typed the words "confidence-boosting women's clothing" into the search bar of a shopping platform. Immediately, products appeared in a format combining images and text.

Black silk JK outfits, high-slit cheongsams, suspender stockings, red high heels.

Is this supposed to be proper confidence-boosting clothing?!

Su Li was heartbroken as he tried to find a shred of purity in this sea of yellow, only to leave bitterly an hour later.

In the end, Su Li chose a blue and white color-blocked tracksuit. After some thought, he also bought a baseball cap for the Destitute Girl.

The clothes would arrive in about an hour. Su Li opened "Douyin," a video app featuring both entertainment and current events.

"Blood Clan invades Dragon City, plotting a blood-thirst plan, but it was thwarted by the Lord of Dragon City. Hundreds died in this battle, and the invading Blood Clan was completely wiped out."

"Central Land ruins exploration: a mysterious card streaked across the sky, but no one captured it."

"Cool City News: Jiang Liyue has obtained a gold card, Fantasy Land of the Divine Girl!"

This is a world of cards.

People improve their spiritual power through cultivation, which reflects onto their physical bodies to strengthen them. At the same time, they use various cards to fight; such people are collectively known as Card Masters.

There are also invasions from different dimensions, with countless worlds intersecting and various civilizations emerging.

In short, it is not a peaceful time, and becoming a powerful Card Master is the most fundamental necessity.

Before long, the delivery arrived, sent by a Messenger Bird summoned by a card—very convenient.

Seeing the brand-new tracksuit, Su Li couldn't help but pinch the corner of his own worn-out sleeve. He should correspond to a [Destitute Boy] card.

He took out the white [Destitute Girl] card, his pupils glowing, and the image appeared on the wall once again.

Three days ago, he had accidentally come into contact with a card and was surprised to discover that he could strengthen the cards in his hand through the information that appeared in his mind.

Thus, within three days, he scoured the Card Hunt market and used his meager funds to buy the white card in his hand.

White cards are the lowest grade of cards. Most have no combat power and are even useless; for Card Masters, they are considered complete trash, but because they are linked to the card system, they still hold a tiny bit of value.

Su Li was eager to verify this strange ability of his, so as soon as he sensed that [Destitute Girl] could be strengthened, he immediately purchased the white card.

If the advancement succeeded and it became a bronze card, the value of the card would undergo a qualitative leap.

Looking at the image on the wall, Su Li received more information directly into his mind: he could enter the world of [Destitute Girl]!

He had to hand this outfit to the Destitute Girl himself, interfering with the card world to complete this strengthening.

He pondered for a while and did not enter the world immediately.

Instead, he went to his desk, preparing to become an elder who watched over her from the shadows, writing her a letter of encouragement and presenting the clothes as a gift for her awakening ceremony.

Su Li began to write.

What was her name again?

"Young girl, all pain and hardship will become the nourishment for your growth."

He paused and pulled out his phone to search.

"As long as the path is right, one should not fear the distance."

He scratched his head.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."

Finally.

"You must always believe in the future."

It's too moving. Su Li looked at his remaining balance and thought to himself, why didn't anyone ever write such a letter to him?

After finishing writing, Su Li straightened his clothes and the letter, then took out the white card once more as the image appeared.

He stepped toward the wall, praying in his heart that he wouldn't just slam face-first into it.

It felt dreamlike and illusory; he passed through the wall as if crossing a threshold.

The scenery around him was blurry, with beams of seven-colored light flowing past, until the view before him gradually sharpened.

He arrived under a starry sky, where the Destitute Girl sat hugging her knees in the distance, the pale moonlight making her appear somewhat desolate.

Su Li snuck into the courtyard.

Thanks to long periods of meditation, his physique had strengthened under the influence of his mental energy, and he landed from the wall with a nimble, athletic grace.

The courtyard was small and muddy from a recent rain.

Su Li entered the old stone house. This must have been the slums of this world; looking into the distance, he saw only similar houses, along with the faint signs of life.

"Good grief, she's even poorer than I am."

Su Li placed the clothes on the table in the main room, and with a thought, he vanished from this world and returned to his own room.

Holding the card, he watched as the scene within the card world began to evolve.

The Destitute Girl wiped away her tears and returned to the room, quickly noticing the clothes and the letter on the table. She looked surprised as she picked up the letter.

"Such ugly handwriting," the Destitute Girl blurted out.

Su Li clenched his fists.

Yet, he saw the girl in the image crying as she read, her face streaked with tears like rain on pear blossoms.

By the end, the gloom in the girl's eyes slowly dissipated, as if her frail body had finally found support.

She carefully put the letter away, then picked up the brand-new sportswear, treasuring it deeply.

After scrubbing away the stains left on her face by school bullies earlier that day, she finally put on the new clothes with a sense of relief.

The girl stood before a chipped full-length mirror and looked at herself, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Thank you, thank you."

A soft whisper echoed through the dark night.

Time in the card world did not pass at the same rate as it did for Su Li, but he could feel the entire process as he kept his gaze fixed on the Destitute Girl.

A few days later, the Ability Awakening Ceremony arrived. In this world of abilities, the government had established schools for the gifted, ensuring even the impoverished had a chance to awaken.

The Destitute Girl put on the new clothes she had been too precious to wear until now, stared at herself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and set her gaze with determination.

She arrived at the school, where she was still mocked by the school bully, but because the ceremony was so important, the bully dared not go too far.

In the end, the bully awakened a bottom-tier G-rank ability, while the Destitute Girl awakened a rare B-rank ability. In this small city, a B-rank was already the ceiling of potential.

Time flew by; the Destitute Girl received support from the school and trained her ability diligently. The card's image froze at this moment.

Su Li pulled himself out of the scene and felt the white card in his hand grow warm, emitting a pearly glow before finally transforming into a bronze card.

Su Li was ecstatic and checked the card's information.

[Shadow Sting - Su Miaohan]

Rank: Bronze Tier 3

Type: Character

Skills:

① Shadow Affinity: Awakened a shadow-type ability, possessing powerful control over shadow energy.

② Shadow Cover: Consumes shadow energy to create dark shadows.

③ Shadow Sneak: Capable of merging into shadows, moving without a sound.

④ Shadow Assassination: Enhances strength with shadow energy to deliver a fatal blow.

Overview: A girl full of longing for the future, currently working hard to improve herself.

The image on the card had also changed from the Destitute Girl sitting with her knees hugged under the night sky to a cool girl holding a dagger, surrounded by shadows.

Su Miaohan's temperament had undergone a massive change, and combined with her striking appearance, it gave Su Li the feeling of raising a "waifu" from a piece of paper.

Very good, very good. It had gone straight from a useless white card to a Bronze Tier 3 card, and one inclined toward combat at that, making it far more valuable.

It had even awakened a true name, meaning this card had higher growth potential and would fetch a higher price on the market.

Just then, Su Li felt his temples throb, pulsing rhythmically, as a strange energy surged from the bronze card in his hand and entered his body.

"My mental energy is skyrocketing?" Su Li sat cross-legged and began to digest the energy.

His situation was very similar to Su Miaohan's: he was an orphan, destitute, working odd jobs while attending the compulsory card master education at Liang City No. 3 High School, founded by the Card Master Alliance.

Having received his education at Liang City No. 3 High School, Su Li also possessed meditation techniques to train his mental energy. He had been meditating since he was a child, though his mental energy was not considered exceptional among his peers.

Before the age of eighteen—that is, before the third year of high school—even the sons and daughters of the wealthiest tycoons in the Card Master Alliance, who possessed unimaginable resources, would not choose to become true card masters, but would instead follow the standard path of meditation.

Because years of research had shown that only after turning eighteen, when the brain had finished developing and fully matured, was it the best time to condense a Spirit Jade and become a card master.

Condensing a Spirit Jade too early would cause irreversible damage to the brain, which would severely hinder a card master's future advancement.

Su Li had been in his third year of high school for half a month. Many card apprentices from wealthy families would attempt to condense a Spirit Jade once their brain regions had fully formed, and by now, Third High School already boasted quite a few young card masters.

At this moment, after Su Li reinforced his card, the card provided feedback to the enhancer, causing his mental power to surge wildly until it touched the threshold of condensing a Spirit Jade.

His brain region vibrated; had it not been fully developed and formed, it would never have been able to withstand such fluctuations, which would have resulted in permanent brain damage or even left him torn apart and reduced to an idiot.

It was not until the horizon began to pale with the first light of dawn.

Su Li exhaled a long breath and opened his eyes, feeling fully refreshed. Within the ethereal black hole of his brain region, a bronze-colored Spirit Jade glowed faintly.

A card master, he had become one!