011: The Fat Sheep

In less than three minutes, a One-Star Blank Energy Card had taken shape in Tang Jian's hands.

The Card Energy and mental power consumed in crafting this card were also significantly less.

Tang Jian exhaled and focused on his attribute panel.

He had 5 points of Card Energy remaining, and 1 point of mental power.

He felt a slight headache returning.

"I can't deplete my mental power like this too often, or it'll cause mental damage that's hard to heal."

This thought crossed Tang Jian's mind, and he temporarily abandoned the idea of continuing to craft One-Star Blank Energy Cards.

When Card Energy drops to its lowest, the body feels weak, and constantly overdrawing it can damage vital energy.

The same applies to mental power; once damaged, it's even harder to recover than vital energy.

Next, Tang Jian quickly cultivated the Three-Point-One-Line Technique.

Cultivating the technique within the range of the metallic semi-circular card also saved him the trouble of being disturbed.

Tang Jian cultivated for two full hours.

His Card Energy recovered to its peak, and his mental power also recovered a little.

He immediately resumed crafting One-Star Energy Cards.

After crafting this second One-Star Blank Energy Card, Tang Jian felt a throbbing pain in his head, more intense than before.

Although his remaining mental power still showed 1 point, the situation was definitely worse than before.

"That's enough for today."

Tang Jian put away the two One-Star Blank Energy Cards and let out a long breath.

If his instructor, Sun Yiying, knew he could craft a One-Star Blank Energy Card in just three minutes, she would definitely prioritize nurturing him.

There was no doubt about that.

Because currently, in the entire grade, only a handful of students, about twenty-something, could successfully craft a One-Star Blank Card in one go, the same number as students who had reached the Two-Star Card User level.

Tang Jian had once thought about attracting Sun Yiying's attention to gain her guidance.

A genius shouldn't be low-key; they must be high-profile and attract others' attention to compete for more resources.

However, this high-profile approach wasn't about being foolishly ostentatious.

Tang Jian also knew that his past Card Crafting talent had been very ordinary. If he suddenly displayed strong abilities, it would definitely arouse suspicion.

But now, having bought a batch of Blank Cards and diligently practicing in the Card Crafting Room, it was understandable that his Card Crafting ability had significantly improved due to such hard work.

In fact, the current Tang Jian had indeed attracted some attention.

Midway, Shi Lei and other classmates looked towards his spot when leaving the Card Crafting Room. Seeing that he remained inside, they were all quite surprised.

"Why is that jerk so diligent now? Card Crafting can't be done recklessly. I've only made two-thirds of a card so far and my head already hurts," the refined Xu Le said.

"Maybe he's tired and sleeping at his desk. Let's go first," Shi Lei said, his eyes glinting.

Indeed, some students had given up on themselves, using practice as an excuse to raise the semi-circular metallic card in the Card Crafting Room to conceal themselves, then secretly sleeping at their desks.

In the past, patrolling teachers would have strictly stopped such behavior.

But now, with the college entrance examination approaching, self-discipline was key for studying. Those who still gave up at this point were beyond saving.

In the eyes of some, Tang Jian, who had seemingly given up, was currently continuing to cultivate the Three-Point-One-Line Technique within the semi-circular metallic sphere, recovering his state.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Tang Jian lowered the metallic hemisphere and left the Card Crafting Room.

In the afternoon, he returned to the Card Crafting Room to continue cultivating. He spent the entire afternoon cultivating the technique. By dinnertime, his Card Energy had long since recovered to its peak, and his mental power had also recovered to 3 points.

This state was essentially peak condition, and he could resume crafting cards.

However, Tang Jian didn't plan to craft cards. Instead, he wanted to wait until his mental power had fully recovered, then use the two One-Star Blank Energy Cards he had to see if he could increase his mental power limit.

Leaving the Card Crafting Room, Tang Jian, like many other third-year students, quickly walked out of the school gate and headed straight for the various dinner stalls and small restaurants outside the school.

Xicheng No. 1 High School did not provide dinner every night; students were responsible for their own meals.

Many students had parents bring them hearty dinners.

However, Tang Jian naturally didn't have this privilege. His father, Tang Lin, was too busy, and his mother didn't have transportation, making it troublesome to come to school. Buying food was the most convenient option.

Normally, Tang Jian would go out to eat with Yang Mao, but now that Yang Mao was training Card Energy and he was training cards, they couldn't meet up.

Tang Jian considered the money in his wallet and walked with his backpack towards the Wooden Bucket Rice restaurant opposite the school.

As soon as he approached the Wooden Bucket Rice restaurant, three punks smoking in a street corner spotted him.

Not far from him, Xie Dong subtly gestured to the three punks from a distance.

The three punks understood, made a sign, stood up, tossed their cigarette butts, and all walked towards the Wooden Bucket Rice restaurant.

These three punks had tattooed arms, pierced ears, and an "I'm tough" look on their faces.

As they walked, many students quickly averted their eyes, not daring to provoke such people.

Tang Jian sensed something was off before he even entered the restaurant. He turned his head and saw the three punks with strange smiles on their faces, directly surrounding him.

The two people who had been standing near him quickly backed away, startled by the situation.

The restaurant owner glanced out the door, frowned, but said nothing.

"Hey kid, come on, my buddies and I want to have a word with you."

One of the thugs stepped forward and slung an arm around Tang Jian's neck, his smile not reaching his eyes.

"Let's go. Just cooperate, and we're easy to deal with," the other two said, flanking him, their faces twisted into mocking smiles.

Many high school students inside the restaurant witnessed the scene, and quite a few turned pale. Some were indignant but dared not intervene, while others looked wary and pretended not to see anything.

Tang Jian, however, remained calm. He frowned and glanced at the thug whose arm was around his neck. "Let's go. It's a bit crowded here. If you have something to say, let's find a more private place."

The three thugs paused, looking at Tang Jian in surprise, not expecting such a response.

Is he serious?

He's this cooperative?

"Alright. Good, you're smart. Let's go." The thug grinned as he reacted, still holding Tang Jian, and began walking toward a nearby alley.

Tang Jian chuckled inwardly, but his face remained impassive as he followed the three.

From a distance, Xie Dong, who had been watching, saw him being led away and immediately beamed with delight.

He hadn't heard what Tang Jian said, and at that moment, seeing the situation, he assumed the plan was halfway successful.

Excellent! If that kid has a lot of Blank Cards on him, he'll be rich. But Lin Qiong is a shady guy and he likes men. This kid looks decent, so let's hope he doesn't get messed up and make things complicated...