Coro Star Trial

"Owner: Tang Jian.

Card Energy: [58/78]+

Spirit: [9/9]+

Life Force: [8.4]+

Special Effects: 1. ??? (???)

2. Dream Realm. (???)

Current Energy: [16300]+"

Tang Jian focused on his Attribute Template. During his recent fight with Mosquito, he had activated the Sleeve Arrow Card twice, which consumed over ten points of his Card Energy.

However, this didn't significantly affect him.

His strength had already improved dramatically compared to ten days ago.

His Card Energy had fully entered the realm of a Two-Star Card User, and his Spirit had reached the maximum level achievable by his current Life Force.

Tang Jian knew very well that Spirit was extremely difficult to raise.

He felt that his current Spirit strength was probably more than double that of Yang Mao and others.

If a normal adult's Spirit power was 3, then he had already surpassed three times the Spirit power of a normal adult.

And for Two-Star Card Users like Yang Mao, their Spirit power was only slightly stronger than a normal adult, perhaps 4 or 5.

However, like Card Energy, Spirit was also limited by the level of one's own Life Force.

With Tang Jian's current 8.4 Life Force, his Card Energy could only be cultivated to a maximum of 84 points, and his Spirit reaching 9 was already the limit. To break through 10, he would need to further enhance his Life Force.

For now, my Life Force is sufficient. I'll focus on maximizing my Card Energy first. If I can get a bonus from the Interstellar Tower performance, I'll buy more nutrient fluid to further boost my Life Force.

Tang Jian looked at the Attribute Template, calculating inwardly.

Since he last spent a thousand energy points to increase his Life Force by 1 point, he had increased his Life Force several more times afterward, but only in increments of 0.1.

By now, he had discovered that increasing Life Force did not consume a fixed unit of energy.

For example, initially, 1000 energy points increased Life Force by 1 point, meaning 100 energy points increased Life Force by 0.1.

But later, Tang Jian found that the energy consumed for every 0.1 increase in Life Force grew significantly.

From 120 points for every 0.1, to the most recent time Tang Jian increased his Life Force from 8.3 to 8.4, that 0.1 increase in Life Force cost him a full 260 energy points.

In other words, the energy required to increase Life Force was such that for every 0.1 increase in Life Force, an additional 20 energy points were consumed on top of the previous amount.

Tang Jian estimated that to increase his 8.4 Life Force to 8.5, he would need to consume 280 energy points. To reach 9, it would require even more.

This was actually quite easy to understand.

Life Force symbolized his physical constitution.

The human body ultimately had a limit, and only by breaking through one limit could one reach the next.

But the closer one got to the limit, the more difficult it became to improve physical constitution, progressing from simple to difficult.

It was like someone running 100 meters in 12.3 seconds improving to 11.3 seconds through training; that 1-second improvement was relatively easy.

However, to train and improve from 11.3 seconds to 10.3 seconds was incredibly difficult.

And to improve from 10.3 seconds to 9.3 seconds, it might be a person's ultimate limit, something they could never achieve in their entire lifetime.

While the Red Card cheat could rapidly increase Tang Jian's Life Force, it couldn't violate the laws of energy. The further his Life Force improved, the more energy it consumed, so it naturally couldn't remain at a constant energy value.

Tang Jian currently didn't dare to increase his Life Force further. He felt his body was nearing its limit, and the recent rapid improvements had consumed too much potential. Continuing to consume it might damage his vitality.

Although each increase in Life Force consumed energy, the body's own potential was also depleted, and this depletion required a large amount of nutrients to replenish.

Tang Jian decided that after the Interstellar Tower assessment, he would buy some nutrient fluid to supplement his body's nutrition, and then continue to increase his Life Force.

At this moment, Tang Jian pressed the "+" sign vigorously, consuming 1300 energy points and directly increasing his Card Energy to its maximum value of 84 points, making up for the dozen or so points he had just used.

This was already the limit corresponding to his Life Force.

Even if Tang Jian continued to cultivate, his Card Energy couldn't increase unless his Life Force increased first.

Tang Jian could now feel this energy flowing and permeating through the muscles and meridians in his body.

With 84 points of Card Energy, he was almost on par with Liu Kun, the strongest in his class. However, for him, this was just a momentary improvement.

Tang Jian glanced at the 15,000 points of energy remaining.

This amount of energy seemed like a lot, but it wasn't really that much.

If used to increase Life Force, simply raising Life Force from 8.4 to 9 would require 2380 points.

And a Life Force of 9 would only correspond to a maximum of 90 Card Energy, which was not even the minimum standard for a Three-Star Card Master.

Theoretically, if he wanted to rapidly increase his strength, he would not only need to consume a large number of Energy Cards but also purchase a large quantity of more precious nutrient fluids to replenish the potential consumed by his body.

To increase his Card Energy from the current 84 points to over 100 points, it would cost at least 100,000 Federal Currency.

Tang Jian shook his head, his consciousness locking onto the Dream Realm.

During this period, he had entered the Dream Realm once.

That time, it had cost him a full 2000 points of Card Energy, and the new challenges that emerged in the Dream Realm also greatly surprised Tang Jian.

However, that challenge was simply too difficult. Tang Jian was eliminated from the Dream Realm before he could even complete it. Aside from his Card Energy increasing by two points, he gained nothing else, essentially wasting 2000 points of Card Energy for nothing.

Nevertheless, Tang Jian had learned his lesson. For some time now, he had frequently replayed the events of that last Dream Realm experience in his mind, searching for a solution, and gradually gaining some confidence.

By today, although Tang Jian still wasn't completely sure, the unexpectedly acquired Combat Card, the Poison Mosquito Card, gave him a great deal of confidence.

As 2000 points of energy were expended, Tang Jian's consciousness quickly blurred, his thoughts elongated, and his perception of his surroundings gradually became unclear.

From the outside, he lay on his bed, his breathing gradually evening out, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Dream Realm.

Accompanied by a desolate and intensely cold wind, Tang Jian shivered all over, his consciousness instantly clearing. He found himself on an incredibly vast and barren plain.

An intense and fierce gravity pressed down on him. Tang Jian felt as if breathing became difficult in an instant, and all his organs seemed to become very heavy, pulling him down and making it hard to breathe. Even just standing on the thick, muddy ground, he felt his knees tremble and struggled to stand steadily.

Just then, a cold wind swept past, cutting across Tang Jian's face, making him feel as though his skin would be sliced open by the knife-like wind, his hairs standing on end.

Sand blew across the air before his eyes, forming two lines of text.

Dream Realm (Simple Trial): Coro Star Training!

Training Goal: Persist for one hour!

Persisting for one hour in the three-times gravity environment of Coro Star, and it wasn't as simple as just enduring the gravity.

As the sand blew past, Tang Jian immediately focused intently, his ears perked up, his gaze sharply scanning the uneven, somewhat hardened, sandy ground.

An unfamiliar planet, with a three-times gravity environment.

And deep within the uneven, sand-filled ground, lurked extremely vicious, communal subterranean creatures—a type of strange, scorpion-like insect.

Last time, Tang Jian had been stung several times by such a creature, causing his body to stiffen in excruciating pain and leading to his elimination from the Dream Realm.

According to his understanding, that meant his body simply couldn't withstand the toxins that invaded his system after being bitten by the strange insect, which resulted in death, hence his elimination.

Although his Life Force was now somewhat stronger than last time, the improvement was limited.

Last time, he had struggled for less than three seconds under that toxin; this time, it definitely wouldn't be much longer.

Even if a king cobra's venom entered Tang Jian's body, given his Life Force, he could last two or three minutes.

This meant the toxins contained in those strange insects deep within this planet were ten times more lethal than a king cobra's.

Tang Jian carefully took a step, slowly walking towards a slightly raised mound in the distance.

Fortunately, this time entering the Dream Realm was in the same location as last time, so he already had some understanding of the surrounding environment and it wasn't unfamiliar.

In this plain area without mountains, to survive three hours in the cold night, it was best to find a sheltered spot like the small mound in the distance. At least he could last a bit longer.

In the three-times gravity environment, Tang Jian found walking quite strenuous.

His Life Force was now comparable to that of a first-class athlete from the Old Kingdom era, so he wouldn't go into shock in this environment. However, trying to accelerate into a run was still extremely difficult.

He pulled three Cards from his grasp. The slightly sluggish Card Energy within him constantly gathered, maintaining its active state.

These three Cards were a Sleeve Arrow Card, a Poison Mosquito Card, and a Flame Card.

Within this Dream Realm, Tang Jian could wield the Cards he already possessed, and even activate the Red Card's cheat-like function to restore Card Energy.

However, he could only utilize his existing resources. Any other imagined objects or tasks could not manifest in the Dream Realm.

This was good news.

At this moment, Tang Jian imagined himself wearing a down jacket.

And so, a down jacket appeared on him, followed by a pair of deerskin boots, thick gloves, a leather hat, and a face mask.

These were all items he already possessed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The cold wind howled, and the temperature dropped further. In the hazy sky in the distance, a circle of light was gradually disappearing, an unknown star's light.

The icy wind, laden with sand and stones, lashed against Tang Jian's body. Aside from the stinging sensation on the upper half of his face exposed outside the mask, the rest of his body felt much better, and the cold was no longer unbearable.

However, after Tang Jian had slowly walked several hundred meters, the last sliver of light also vanished, and the entire world began to plunge into silent darkness.

The chilling darkness, unfamiliar surroundings, and terrifying howling wind could make anyone with an unstable mind feel intense panic.

It was like a terrifying nightmare.

Tang Jian had experienced this before, so he didn't panic.

Relying on his previous estimation of the mound's location, he slowly approached that general direction.

His nose detected a cold sensation beginning to permeate the air, and the bone-chilling feeling started to emerge again.

It was snowing.

The temperature had dropped rapidly, already around negative four or five degrees Celsius.

In the darkness, there were some rustling sounds, faint amidst the howling wind.

Tang Jian's eyes narrowed.

The last time he heard that sound, he discovered those strange insects, and then the nightmare began.

This time, however, Tang Jian was prepared.

According to the information he found in books, although he couldn't identify the name or origin of these insects, he had roughly determined that these insects, which prefer to appear on cold nights, were afraid of fire.

Tang Jian immediately concentrated Card Energy onto the Flame Card in his hand.

The Flame Card's design was extremely simple, forming a fiery flower.

When Tang Jian concentrated Card Energy onto the Flame Card, the Attribute Template fluctuated, consuming 2 points of Card Energy.

A tiny flame, only slightly larger than his pinky finger, appeared on Tang Jian's fingertip.

This speck of light was like a sharp sword emerging in the darkness, bringing hope.

However, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew, and even though Tang Jian's other hand offered some slight protection, the flame on his fingertip quickly extinguished.

Tang Jian frowned.

He had anticipated this outcome.

In such a special environment, generating a flame required more Card Energy, and it could easily be blown out by the cold wind if one wasn't careful.

Moreover, it was still snowing.

But the next moment, a candle appeared in Tang Jian's hand. The upper part of the candle was covered by a transparent shield, which could completely block the cold wind.

A tiny flame once again appeared on Tang Jian's fingertip.

This time he was more careful, finally managing to light the candle in his hand.

Though the candle, protected by its shield, emitted an extremely faint light, in this world of darkness, it was like a protective force, dispelling the oppressive gloom.

The rustling sounds mixed in with the wind and sand seemed to slow down, instinctively reacting with aversion and resistance to the faint light in Tang Jian's hand, seemingly no longer approaching.

Tang Jian let out a slight sigh of relief.

He quickened his pace, moving towards the earthen mound.

Some larger pebbles, carried by the wind, struck his face, causing an extreme stinging sensation even with his mask on.

Tang Jian lowered his face slightly, trudging persistently through this world of cold wind. The strange insects didn't approach him again, but a bad feeling gradually crept into his heart.

This feeling was as if, in the oppressive darkness around him, a pair of extremely malicious eyes were fixated on him, making his heart tremble.

"Just as I thought, it's not that simple!"

Tang Jian could already see the earthen mound ahead, but a sense of crisis now enveloped his heart.

He didn't even know where the enemy in the darkness was.

Tang Jian gritted his teeth, concentrated all his Card Energy, and activated the Poison Mosquito Card.

A full 80 points of Card Energy were directly consumed.

The Poison Mosquito Card glowed faintly, two crimson lights emerging from its surface. Then, a buzzing sound began, and a fist-sized Poison Mosquito flew directly from the card, circling around Tang Jian. It was almost blown away by a strong gust of wind.

Even the Poison Mosquito was greatly affected by this harsh environment, with its flight speed and agility significantly reduced.

But this was already Tang Jian's strongest Combat Card.

After appearing, the Poison Mosquito landed on Tang Jian's shoulder, its antennae twitching, highly sensitive to scents.

Tang Jian felt as if a part of his spiritual energy had transferred to the Poison Mosquito, and he could vaguely sense some of the Poison Mosquito's emotions and feedback.

Pets summoned by combat pet cards were not emotionless machines; they even possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

The moment Tang Jian received the first piece of information, his heart tightened abruptly, and a cold chill ran down the back of his neck, making him shiver.

Whoosh—

Without thinking, Tang Jian lunged forward, throwing himself to the ground. A sharp, keen black shadow swiftly swept past his neck.

With a thud, he fell heavily to the ground. Even with the thick down jacket providing some cushioning, he could still feel the excruciating pain of his sternum hitting the hard ground, and his heart was so compressed he could barely breathe.

Falling forward so suddenly in a three-times gravity environment, if it were an ordinary person, this fall would surely break a few ribs, if not kill them, then severely injure them.

But Tang Jian's Life Force was extraordinary after all, and his bones were tougher than an ordinary person's.

Though this sudden lunge left him with a tight chest and blurred vision, he had managed to evade the cold arrow that had suddenly attacked him from behind.

However, with this fall, the candle in his hand had dropped to the ground, and its flame was extinguished.

The rustling sounds in the darkness were immediately carried by the wind again, as if countless malicious eyes were staring at him.

Buzz—

The Poison Mosquito had flown towards the source of the attack immediately. In this harsh environment, its flight speed was only about 30% of what it was on Earth.

Tang Jian struggled to quickly get up from the ground, picked up the candle, and without hesitation, consumed 100 points of Energy to instantly restore all his Card Energy.

Snap—

A tiny flame reappeared on his fingertip, lighting the candle in his hand.

At the same time, the Poison Mosquito had also discovered the enemy's trace about thirty meters away, circling nimbly as it approached the enemy.

Tang Jian's expression suddenly changed. His muscles tensed, and he spun his head sharply, but before he could react further, a black shadow, accompanied by a piercing whistle, rapidly grew larger in front of him. Then, an incredibly sharp pain shot through his forehead, and blood trickled from the edge of his cap down to his nose.

His vision went black.

The final message from the Poison Mosquito flashed through Tang Jian's mind.

It was a strange, evil figure, thin as a skeleton, yet with abnormally thick arms. On its back were several sharp, black, spear-like wooden sticks, and its large eyes held an intense look of cruelty and malice.

This image became the frozen frame of his Dream Realm experience.

"Ah!—"

Tang Jian opened his eyes, drenched in sweat. He had woken up from the Dream Realm, his brow throbbing and his eyelids twitching.

That moment of death had felt incredibly real. Even with Tang Jian's strong willpower, experiencing such a sensation of dying was still deeply unsettling, leaving him with a lingering sense of dread and fear.

His face was extremely pale.

This was the second time.

He had failed in this Dream Realm for the second time, wasting another two thousand points of Card Energy.

In fact, if not for the Poison Mosquito, he wouldn't even have been able to detect what the enemy in the darkness was.

That peculiar, skinny, monkey-like monster was probably a unique species from Coro Star.

However, Tang Jian knew nothing about Coro Star, so naturally, he couldn't possibly know about such a strange alien species.

Even in his previous life, despite being a Three-Star Card Master, he had only left Earth to vacation on planets like the Moon and Pluto for a period. As for planets outside the solar system, he knew absolutely nothing.

Clearly, a planet like Coro Star might be outside the solar system, or perhaps it was even just a fabrication of the Dream Realm.

Tang Jian brought up his Attribute Template.

Owner: Tang Jian
Card Energy: [82/84]+
Mental Energy: [9/9]+
Life Force: [8.5]+
Special Functions: 1. ??? (???)
                   2. Dream Realm (???)
Current Energy: [12900]+

After a quick glance, Tang Jian saw that his Life Force had increased by 0.1 in the Dream Realm.

He could feel his body reacting; his muscles were sore as if from excessive lactic acid, he was sweating profusely, and he felt a subtle hunger.

The hunger wasn't intense, but like feeling thirsty, by the time you notice it, it means you're already quite dehydrated.

At this moment, Tang Jian knew he was severely lacking in nutrition.

Although a 0.1 increase in Life Force wasn't much, his Life Force had increased significantly recently, and his body's nutritional needs were starting to fall behind.

"Looks like I'll have to buy some Nutritional Express from Sunshine Group tomorrow to replenish my nutrients," Tang Jian sighed.

Physical training wasn't as simple as it sounded. In ancient times, some martial arts sects, like the Shaolin Temple, emphasized purity of mind and body. This was not only for mental cultivation but also to prevent the dissipation of physical energy, which could hinder physical training.

In this era of convenient information, many young people couldn't endure the pain of cultivation, so their Life Force was generally not strong, and they missed the opportunity to become Card Cultivators.

Tang Jian was very self-aware in this regard. Thinking about this matter, he muttered to himself that this was another loss, and went downstairs to find food to supplement his nutrition.

The three-times gravity environment of Coro Star in the Dream Realm was excellent for physical conditioning, which was why his Life Force had increased.

However, Tang Jian's time on Coro Star was too short, so the Life Force increase wasn't significant.

Overall, it was a huge loss. For him to spend two thousand points of Card Energy just to enter the Dream Realm once, only to gain 0.1 Life Force upon exiting...

He could have increased that small amount of Life Force directly by spending 280 Card Energy, meaning most of the two thousand points were wasted.

It couldn't be called a complete waste, though; this was also about gaining experience.

At least this time he discovered that strange dark creature. Tang Jian was already analyzing its strengths and weaknesses in his mind based on its behavior, seeking solutions.

After replenishing his nutrition, Tang Jian habitually sat down at his desk to make Energy Cards. He made three in one go, stopping when his Mental Energy dropped below 2 points.

He tossed all three One-Star Blank Energy Cards directly into the drawer.

There were already a dozen or so such Cards piled up in the drawer.

For now, Tang Jian didn't plan to use these Energy Cards.

The Red Card cheat device currently stored enough Card Energy, but he was essentially out of money.

He counted the money he had taken from Mosquito, which was about nine hundred Federal Currency. He also roughly weighed the large gold chain he had taken from the other's neck, which was about fifty grams.

At the current gold price, selling the chain second-hand should fetch about ten thousand Federal Currency, making it a fairly substantial gain.

"I'll keep this money for now. After the Interstellar Tower assessment tomorrow, I'll figure out what to do. If possible, I'll buy the materials to make a One-Star Blank Green Hat Card, try to make the Green Hat Card, and then prepare for another Dream Realm session."

Tang Jian pondered.

The Green Hat Card was just a nickname; its full name was "Hulk's Hat"!

This Combat Card belonged to the physical enhancement series. Its quality wasn't fixed; the lowest was a blank Three-Star level, and the highest was a blue Five-Star level. Naturally, its functions and power varied with its quality.

Wearing Hulk's Hat would provide an energy amplification to one's Life Force.

This Card was designed to significantly boost Life Force (strength, speed, physique) for a short period, making it straightforward and powerful.

The next morning, Tang Jian ran from home to school in less than ten minutes.

Today, there were more students' parents at the school gate, and even a team of special forces Card Police were stationed there.

Clearly, the terrifying incident caused by the Old Kingdom Organization yesterday had already had an impact. The Xicheng Police Department had also begun strengthening patrols and deterrent forces throughout the city.

Thanks to "Unknown Fantasy" for the reward!