Owner: Tang Jian Card Energy: 58/78+ Mental Strength: 9/9+ Vitality: 8.4+ Special Functions: 1, ???(???) 2, Dream.(???) Current Energy: 16300+
Tang Jian focused on his Attribute Template. During his battle with Mosquito just now, activating the Sleeve Arrow Card twice had consumed more than ten points of card energy.
However, that did not have much effect on him.
His strength had already improved tremendously compared to ten days ago.
His card energy had completely entered the level of a two-star Card Apprentice, while his mental strength had reached the limit his current vitality could support.
Tang Jian knew very well that mental strength was extremely difficult to improve.
By his estimation, his current mental strength was probably more than twice that of Yang Mao and the others.
If a normal adult's mental strength was 3, then his had now surpassed three times that of a normal adult.
As for two-star Card Apprentices like Yang Mao, their mental strength was only a little stronger than that of normal adults, perhaps 4 or 5.
However, like card energy, mental strength was limited by the level of one's vitality.
With Tang Jian's current vitality of 8.4, his card energy could at most be trained to 84 points. Mental strength reaching 9 was already the limit. To break through to 10, he would have to increase his vitality again.
My vitality is enough for now. I'll raise my card energy to the limit first. If I perform well at the Interstellar Tower and get a bonus, I'll buy more nutrient solution and increase my vitality again.
Tang Jian looked at the Attribute Template and quietly calculated.
Ever since he had spent one thousand energy points to raise his vitality by 1 point last time, he had increased it several more times over the following period, though each increase had only been in increments of 0.1.
By now, he had discovered that increasing vitality did not consume a fixed amount of energy.
For example, at the beginning, one thousand energy points raised vitality by 1 point, which meant every hundred energy points raised vitality by 0.1.
But later, Tang Jian found that the energy consumed for every 0.1 increase in vitality kept growing.
It had risen from 120 points for every 0.1, to the most recent time when Tang Jian raised his vitality from 8.3 to 8.4, consuming a full 260 energy points for that 0.1 increase.
In other words, every additional 0.1 vitality required 20 more energy points than the previous increase.
Tang Jian estimated that raising his vitality from 8.4 to 8.5 would consume 280 energy points, and raising it to 9 would require even more.
This was actually easy to understand.
Vitality represented his physical fitness.
The human body ultimately had limits. Only by breaking through one limit could one reach the next.
The closer one got to those limits, the harder it became to improve one's physical fitness.
For example, someone might run one hundred meters in 12.3 seconds and improve to 11.3 through training. That one-second improvement was relatively easy.
But training from 11.3 seconds down to 10.3 seconds would be incomparably difficult.
Then improving from 10.3 seconds to 9.3 seconds might be beyond what a person could ever achieve in an entire lifetime.
Although the Red Card Cheater could rapidly increase Tang Jian's vitality, it could not violate the laws of energy. The further his vitality improved, the more energy it would consume. Naturally, it could not remain fixed at one energy value.
Tang Jian did not dare increase his vitality any further for now. He felt that his body was already nearing its limit. His recent rapid improvements had consumed too much potential. If he continued, he might damage his fundamental vitality.
Although every increase in vitality consumed energy, the human body's own potential was also depleted. That depletion required large amounts of nutrients to replenish.
Tang Jian decided that after the Interstellar Tower assessment, he would buy some nutrient solution to replenish his body's nutrition before continuing to increase his vitality.
At that moment, Tang Jian fiercely pressed the "+" sign, consuming 1,300 energy points to directly raise his card energy to its maximum of 84 points, replenishing the dozen or so points he had just spent.
This was the maximum standard corresponding to his vitality.
Even if Tang Jian kept cultivating, his card energy could not increase unless his vitality increased first.
Tang Jian could now feel the energy flowing through and permeating the muscles and meridians of his body.
With 84 points of card energy, he was already nearly on par with Liu Kun, the strongest in the class. Yet for him, this had only taken an instant.
Tang Jian glanced at the 15,000 energy points he still had left.
Those energy points looked like a lot, but they were actually nothing much.
If used to increase vitality, simply raising it from 8.4 to 9 would consume 2,380 points.
And vitality of 9 only corresponded to a maximum of 90 card energy, not even reaching the minimum threshold for a three-star Card Apprentice.
Theoretically, if he wanted to rapidly increase his strength, he would not only need to consume a huge number of Energy Cards, but also purchase large quantities of even more precious nutrient solution to replenish his body's depleted potential.
To raise his card energy from its current 84 points to over 100 would cost at least one hundred thousand Federal Currency.
Tang Jian shook his head and focused his consciousness on the dream.
During this period, he had entered the dream once before.
That time, it had cost him a full 2,000 energy points. The new trial that emerged in the dream had also left Tang Jian extremely shocked.
But that trial had been too difficult. Tang Jian had been eliminated from the dream before he could complete it. Apart from gaining two points of card energy, he had gained nothing else, wasting 2,000 energy points for nothing.
Still, Tang Jian had learned his lesson. Recently, he had repeatedly pondered every scene from his previous dream experience, searching for a way to overcome it, and gradually gained some confidence.
By today, although Tang Jian was not completely certain, the Poison Mosquito Card he had unexpectedly obtained gave him great confidence.
As 2,000 energy points were consumed.
Tang Jian's consciousness quickly became hazy. His thoughts stretched out, and his perception of his surroundings gradually grew unclear.
From the outside, he lay on the bed with his breathing gradually becoming even, quickly falling into a deep sleep.
Dream World.
As a lonely, incomparably frigid wind swept up, Tang Jian shuddered all over. His consciousness instantly cleared, and he found himself standing on an incomparably vast, desolate plain.
Intense and ferocious gravity pressed down on him from all around. Tang Jian found it difficult to breathe in an instant. Every organ in his body seemed to become incredibly heavy, dragging at him until he could barely catch his breath. Even standing on the solid earthen ground made his knees tremble, leaving him somewhat unsteady.
Just then, a cold wind drifted past. It scraped across Tang Jian's face, making him feel as though the blade-like wind would cut through his skin, raising goosebumps all over his body.
Windblown sand swept through the air before him, forming two lines of words.
"Dream (Simple Trial): Coro Star Cultivation!"
"Cultivation Objective: Hold out for one hour!"
In Coro Star's environment of triple gravity, he had to hold out for an hour. And it was not as simple as merely enduring the gravity.
As the windblown sand drifted past, Tang Jian immediately became intensely focused. His ears pricked up, and his sharp gaze scanned the pitted ground full of hard sandy hollows.
An unfamiliar planet, a Starry Sky environment with triple gravity.
And beneath the pitted ground full of sand holes lurked extremely vicious, social Underground Creatures—strange bugs resembling poisonous scorpions.
Last time, Tang Jian had been stung a few times by those strange bugs. The excruciating pain had stiffened his body, causing him to be eliminated from the dream.
Based on his understanding, his body had likely been unable to withstand the poison injected by the bugs' stings, resulting in death and his subsequent elimination.
Although his vitality was somewhat stronger than last time, the increase was limited.
Last time, he had struggled for less than three seconds under that poison. This time would definitely not be much longer.
Even if king cobra venom entered Tang Jian's body, his vitality would allow him to last two or three minutes.
That meant the venom of those underground bugs on this planet was ten times as lethal as king cobra venom.
Tang Jian carefully took a step and slowly headed toward a slightly raised mound in the distance.
Fortunately, he had entered this dream at the same location as last time. He was already familiar with the surrounding environment.
On this flat plain without mountains, if he wanted to survive the cold night for three hours, it was best to find a sheltered area like that small mound in the distance. At least then, he could hold out a little longer.
In the triple-gravity environment, Tang Jian had great difficulty walking.
His current vitality was comparable to that of a first-class athlete from the Old Nation era, so he would not go into shock in such an environment. However, accelerating into a run was still extremely difficult.
He pulled out three cards, while the slightly sluggish card energy within his body continuously gathered and remained active.
Of the three cards, one was the Sleeve Arrow Card, one was the Poison Mosquito Card, and one was the Flame Card.
In this dream, Tang Jian could use the cards he already possessed and could even activate the Red Card Cheater's function to restore card energy.
However, he could only use resources he already had. Other items imagined out of thin air could not appear in the dream.
That was good news.
At that moment, Tang Jian imagined himself wearing a down jacket.
A down jacket appeared on his body, followed by a pair of deerskin boots, thick gloves, a leather cap, and a mask.
These were all supplies he already possessed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The cold wind howled as the temperature dropped lower and lower. In the distant gray sky, he could see a ring of light gradually vanishing, though he had no idea what star it came from.
Icy wind wrapped around sand and stones, battering Tang Jian's body. Other than the upper half of his face exposed outside the mask still stinging, the rest of his body felt much better, and the cold was no longer unbearable.
But after Tang Jian slowly traveled several hundred meters, the final trace of light vanished, and the entire world began to sink into silent darkness.
The bone-chilling darkness, unfamiliar environment, and terrifying howling wind could fill anyone with weak resolve with intense panic.
It was like a terrible nightmare.
Tang Jian had experienced it before, so he did not panic.
Based on his earlier estimate of the mound's location, he slowly made his way toward its approximate position.
His nose caught a cold scent spreading through the air, and the bone-piercing chill began to return.
It was snowing.
The temperature had already plummeted to around minus four or five degrees Celsius.
In the darkness, faint rustling sounds rose amid the howling gale.
Tang Jian's eyes narrowed.
Last time, after hearing this sound, he had discovered those strange bugs. What followed had been the beginning of the nightmare.
But this time, Tang Jian was prepared.
According to the information he had found in books, although he had not discovered the bugs' name or origin, he had roughly determined that these nocturnal insects feared fire.
Tang Jian immediately gathered card energy into the Flame Card in his hand.
The Flame Card's surface had extremely simple lines forming a flower of flame.
As Tang Jian gathered card energy into the Flame Card, the Attribute Template flickered, and 2 points of card energy were consumed.
A tiny flame, only slightly larger than his little finger, appeared at Tang Jian's fingertip.
That point of light was like a sword suddenly born in the darkness, bringing hope.
But a fierce gust of cold wind swept in. Even with Tang Jian shielding it slightly with his other hand, the flame at his fingertip was quickly extinguished.
Tang Jian frowned.
He had anticipated this result.
In such a special environment, creating a flame consumed more card energy, and the slightest carelessness would allow the cold wind to blow it out.
And it was snowing as well.
But in the next moment, a candle appeared in Tang Jian's hand. The upper half of the candle was covered by a transparent shield that could completely block the wind.
A tiny flame appeared at Tang Jian's fingertip again.
This time, he was more careful and finally lit the candle in his hand.
Although the candle protected by the lamp cover gave off extremely weak light, in this world of darkness, it was like a protective force that dispelled the oppression of the dark.
The rustling sounds mingled with the wind and sand seemed to slow. Instinctively repulsed by the faint light in Tang Jian's hand, they no longer seemed to approach.
Tang Jian let out a slight sigh of relief.
He quickened his pace toward the mound.
Some slightly larger stones were blown up by the wind and struck his face. Even with the mask on, he still felt extreme pain.
Tang Jian lowered his face slightly and trudged onward through the frigid world. Those strange bugs did not approach again, but a sense of foreboding gradually welled up in his heart.
It felt as if, within the oppressive darkness surrounding him, a pair of eyes full of extreme malice had locked onto him, making his heart tremble.
Sure enough, it wasn't that simple!
Tang Jian could already see the mound ahead, but a sense of danger now enveloped his heart.
He did not even know where the enemy in the darkness was.
Tang Jian gritted his teeth, gathered all his card energy, and activated the Poison Mosquito Card.
A full 80 points of card energy were instantly consumed.
The Poison Mosquito Card lit up faintly. Two scarlet points of light emerged from its surface, followed by a buzzing sound. A fist-sized poison mosquito flew directly out of the card, circling Tang Jian before nearly being blown away by a violent gust.
Even the poison mosquito was severely affected by this harsh environment. Its flight speed and agility were greatly reduced.
But this was Tang Jian's strongest Combat Card.
After appearing, the poison mosquito landed on Tang Jian's shoulder. Its antennae twitched, highly sensitive to scents.
Tang Jian felt as if a portion of his mental strength had split off into the poison mosquito. He could vaguely sense some of its emotions and the information it relayed.
The pets summoned by combat Pet Cards were not emotionless machines. They even possessed a certain degree of intelligence.
The instant Tang Jian received the first message, his heart clenched. Cold air rose along the back of his neck, making him shiver.
Whoosh—
Without a second thought, Tang Jian threw himself forward. A sharp black shadow swept past his neck.
Bang! He crashed heavily onto the ground. Even with the thick down jacket cushioning him somewhat, his breastbone still ached from striking the hard earth, and his heart was so compressed that he nearly could not breathe.
Throwing himself forward under triple gravity—if it had been an ordinary person, that fall would have broken several ribs. Even if they did not die, they would have been seriously injured.
But Tang Jian's vitality was far from ordinary, and his bones were tougher than those of a normal person.
Although his sudden dive left his chest tight and his vision dark, it had allowed him to avoid the cold arrow that had suddenly struck from behind.
However, that dive had sent the candle in his hand tumbling to the ground, extinguishing the flame at once.
In the darkness, rustling sounds were immediately swept over by the wind again, as though countless vicious eyes were staring at him.
Buzz, buzz—
The poison mosquito had flown toward the source of the attack at the first possible moment. In this harsh environment, its flight speed was only about thirty percent of what it had been on Earth Star.
Tang Jian struggled up from the ground, grabbed the candle, and without hesitation consumed 100 energy points to instantly restore all his card energy.
Pop—
A tiny flame appeared at his fingertip again, moving toward the candle in his hand.
At the same time, the poison mosquito discovered the enemy's trail thirty meters away and flew nimbly toward it.
Tang Jian's expression abruptly changed. The muscles in his body tensed as he whipped his head around, but before he could make his next move—
A black shadow, accompanied by a shrill gust of wind, rapidly enlarged before his eyes. Then an unbearable pain struck his brow bone, and blood slid from the edge of his leather cap down to the bridge of his nose.
His consciousness went dark.
The final information relayed by Mosquito flashed through Tang Jian's mind and vanished.
It was a bizarre, sinister figure like a skinny monkey, yet its arm muscles were abnormally thick. Several sharp black wooden sticks resembling short spears were strapped to its back, while its enormous eyes brimmed with cruelty and malice.
That image became the frozen ending of this dream.
"Ah—!"
Tang Jian opened his eyes, his face drenched in sweat as he jolted awake from the dream. His brow felt swollen, and his eyelids twitched violently.
That scene of death had been far too real. Even with Tang Jian's strong will, experiencing death like that still made him deeply uncomfortable, leaving his heart palpitating with lingering fear.
His expression was extremely grim.
The second time.
This was already the second time he had failed this dream, wasting another full two thousand points of energy.
If not for Mosquito, he would not even have been able to detect what the enemy in the darkness was.
That strange, skinny-monkey-like monster was probably a special species from Coro Star.
But Tang Jian knew nothing at all about Coro Star, so naturally he knew even less about such bizarre extraterrestrial lifeforms.
Even in his previous life, though he had been a Three-Star Card Master, he had only left Earth Star to vacation on planets such as the Moon and Pluto. He knew absolutely nothing about worlds beyond the Solar System.
Clearly, a planet like Coro Star might have been outside the Solar System, or it might even have been fabricated by the dream.
Tang Jian brought up the Attribute Template.
Owner: Tang Jian. Card energy: 82/84+ Spirit: 9/9+ Vitality: 8.5+ Special effect functions: 1, ???(???) 2, Dream.(???) Current energy: 12900+
With a quick glance, Tang Jian saw that his vitality had risen by 0.1 during the dream.
He could now feel that his body had reacted as well. The muscles throughout his body ached as though they had secreted massive amounts of lactic acid. He had sweated heavily, and he also faintly felt hungry.
The hunger was not intense, but it was like thirst. By the time someone could feel it, they were already severely dehydrated.
Tang Jian knew that he was severely lacking nutrients.
Although a 0.1 increase in vitality was not much, his vitality had risen considerably lately, and his body's nutritional intake was starting to fall behind.
"Looks like I have to buy some Sunshine Group Nutritional Express tomorrow and replenish my nutrients first."
Tang Jian sighed.
Building physical fitness was not as simple as talking about it. In ancient times, old martial arts sects like Shaolin Temple stressed purging one's mind of desire. That was not merely for mental cultivation, but also to prevent one's physical energy from being dispersed and hindering physical training.
Information was easily accessible in this era, and many teenagers could not endure the hardships of cultivation. As a result, their vitality was generally weak, and they missed their chance to become Card Apprentices.
Tang Jian was quite disciplined in this regard. Thinking about it, he silently cursed his losses again, then went downstairs to look for food to replenish his nutrients.
Coro Star's triple-gravity environment in the dream was indeed highly effective at tempering the body, which was why his vitality had increased.
However, Tang Jian had endured on Coro Star for too short a time, so the increase in his vitality was not significant.
Overall, he had suffered a huge loss. He had spent two thousand energy points just to enter the dream once, only to gain 0.1 vitality after coming out.
He could directly raise that tiny bit of vitality by spending only 280 energy points. In other words, most of those two thousand energy points had been wasted.
It could not exactly be called a waste. He was also accumulating experience.
At the very least, he had discovered that strange creature in the darkness. Based on its performance at the time, Tang Jian had already begun analyzing its strengths and weaknesses in his mind, searching for a solution.
After replenishing his nutrients—
Tang Jian habitually sat at his desk and made Energy Cards. He produced three in one go, then stopped when his spirit fell below 2 points.
The three One-Star Blank Energy Cards were all tossed directly into a drawer.
Inside the drawer, more than a dozen such cards had already piled up.
For the moment, Tang Jian had no intention of using these Energy Cards.
The energy stored in the Red Card Cheater was sufficient for now, but he was basically out of money.
After counting the cash he had taken from Mosquito, he found that there were roughly nine hundred Federal Currency. He also weighed the thick gold chain he had removed from the man's neck; it was around fifty grams.
At the current price of gold, he should be able to sell the chain secondhand for roughly ten thousand Federal Currency. It was quite a decent haul.
"I'll keep this money for now. After I get through the Interstellar Tower assessment tomorrow, I'll make further plans. If possible, I'll buy the materials for making a One-Star Blank Green Hat Card, try to make it, and then prepare for another dream."
Tang Jian calculated.
Green Hat Card was merely its abbreviation. Its full name was Hulk's Hat!
This was a combat-type physical enhancement card, and its grade was not fixed. The lowest grade was One-Star Blank, while the highest was Blue Five-Star. Naturally, cards of different grades had different effects and power.
Once Hulk's Hat was worn, vitality would receive an energy boost.
This card could greatly increase vitality—strength, speed, and physique—for a short period of time. It was simple and ferocious.
Early the next morning, Tang Jian ran from home to school in less than ten minutes.
There were more parents at the school gates today, and even a squad of special operations card police stood guard outside the school.
Clearly, the terrorist incident caused by the Old Kingdom Organization yesterday had already had an impact. Xi City's police department had begun strengthening patrols and deterrent forces throughout the city.
Thanks to "Unknown Fantasy" for the reward!
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