045: State of Mind—Unruffled

"Tang Jian, what exactly are you playing at? I hope you're not playing with fire."

Sun Yiying's delicate brows furrowed and her eyes gleamed as she watched Tang Jian, still mixing ink on the large screen.

She truly hadn't expected Tang Jian to choose to create a set of Cards.

Why was he so confident?

Or was it because of what she said yesterday, causing him to be somewhat hot-headed and eager to outdo Wu Chun, which led him to be so irrational? Sun Yiying couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

"Crafting Cards isn't like copying a painting; it consumes a lot of mental energy and Card Energy. Teacher Sun, could it be that your student's Life Force and Card Energy already surpass Wu Chun's? Ah, yes, he's certainly being a bit overly ambitious."

A teacher who was quite close to Jiang Zhendong shook his head with a smile, also not thinking highly of Tang Jian at all.

Three One-Star Blank Cards were not that easy to craft. They not only consumed Card Energy but also mental energy.

If he failed even once in the middle, then this set of Cards absolutely couldn't be crafted within an hour. After all, a person's mental energy and Card Energy were limited.

One hour was already a challenge for Card Crafting, let alone recovering strength and continuing to craft after a failure. There simply wasn't enough time.

"Even if he can't craft an entire set, if he only crafts two of them, he might still have a chance to win first place," Sun Yiying snorted, her voice flat.

Jiang Zhendong frowned slightly. "He'd still have to be able to make them, and after making them, we'd have to see how long it took and how well they perform."

"More talk is useless," Sun Yiying shook her head.

At this moment, Tang Jian was carefully pouring Wind Crystal Fluid and Energy Ink into the Heating Furnace at a one-to-five ratio, adjusting the furnace's temperature, and patiently mixing the ink.

Crafting Cards, especially those that required other substances to be incorporated into the Energy Ink, often demanded even more precise control over the Card Crafting materials.

The mixing of Energy Ink was of utmost importance.

Time passed by second by second.

While Tang Jian was still mixing the Energy Ink, many students who had chosen the Card Crafting test had already begun crafting Cards.

Most One-Star Blank Cards could be crafted with the most common Energy Ink, but a very small number of more difficult One-Star Blank Cards required the addition of other substances to the Energy Ink.

These Energy Inks, with added substances, were more troublesome to integrate with the body's Card Energy into the Card face. They required more subtle perception and coordination. Each one crafted naturally consumed much more mental effort and Card Energy than other Cards of the same star level.

However, this minor inconvenience was no problem at all for Tang Jian, who possessed the awareness of a Three-Star Card Crafter.

For him, a One-Star Blank Card that only integrated a single material into the Energy Ink, like this, had the same difficulty as a regular One-Star Energy Card—which was to say, no difficulty at all.

"59, 58, 57."

Tang Jian silently counted down, calming his mind and spirit. He was extremely patient and not at all anxious.

The great Card God Chen Mu once said, "Thorough preparation, a calm mind, and precise, skilled hands are all essential qualities for a Card Maker."

For Tang Jian, meticulous preparation before Card Crafting ensured that the subsequent crafting process would proceed more smoothly. This was not something to rush.

The reason the school had set up such a test, placing a candle in front of people and talking about time limits, was clearly to strengthen a psychological suggestion, constantly warning people that time was running out.

Those with weak willpower, those who couldn't calm their minds, would be more prone to making mistakes as the candle burned shorter and shorter.

Once a mistake was made, it meant failure.

At this moment, Tang Jian even noticed that the surrounding gravity was increasing, gradually approaching a one-times gravity environment, and even intensifying.

This was clearly also a form of interference.

He didn't pay it any mind, but on the surface, he still pretended to be slightly nervous, his brows slightly furrowed, his lower lip lightly bitten, staring intently at the Heating Furnace, his hand tightly gripping the Sketching Pen. He looked like a young girl nervously awaiting a response after confessing to her crush.

This level of acting prowess immediately caused some teachers in the meeting room, who were still observing him, to subtly shake their heads, feeling a sense of disappointment.

"He's already starting to get nervous, while Wu Chun has already begun crafting Cards. The difference is clear," a teacher sighed.

At this point, Wu Chun's performance was indeed far better than Tang Jian's. He had already mixed his ink and, after drawing it with his Sketching Pen, began outlining on the Card face.

His expression was focused, his eyes bright, and his demeanor calm. His strokes were steady, his wrist light, and his fingers rotated the pen body with great flexibility. While his outlining speed wasn't fast, it was remarkably stable, indicating his strong inner confidence and very calm state of mind.

Compared to Wu Chun's performance, Tang Jian's nervousness, which was practically written all over his face, naturally seemed quite unsatisfactory.

Soon, besides Sun Yiying and Jiang Zhendong, not many teachers were paying attention to Tang Jian anymore, shifting their focus to their own students.

It was then that Tang Jian finally let out a long breath, seemingly relieving the pressure, and slowly poured out the Energy Ink from the Heating Furnace.

The originally dark Energy Ink now had tiny, star-like blue specks on its surface, as if the Wind Crystal Fluid had perfectly blended with it.

Tang Jian immediately rinsed the Heating Furnace with clean water, then poured some more Energy Ink into the furnace. Following the ratio, he added some sword-fruit jam and continued heating.

Subsequently, Tang Jian used the Sketching Pen to draw the first batch of prepared Energy Ink and began crafting the Card on the Wind Cat Bone textured Card face.

With a single stroke, lines of black ink interspersed with blue star points snaked from the pen tip. Tang Jian's mind was intently focused on the harmonious integration between the Card face and the Card Ink.

The Card Energy within his body acted as a mediator between the two, like a massive hammer, relentlessly forging the iron ingot placed over the furnace fire, hammering out impurities.

During this process, the subtle control over Card Energy was even more precise and intricate than that of a large hammer, difficult to describe in words.

As Tang Jian crafted the Card, all traces of nervousness vanished from his face. Every movement was incredibly precise, and his gaze became exceptionally focused.

And at this moment!

Wu Chun had already completed half of his first pet Card, the Antelope Card.

Some students who were also excellent at Card Crafting had already nearly finished their first Card.

"Ah, Liu Fei has already crafted a One-Star Blank Energy Card! That was fast, it's only been six minutes, right?"

One teacher exclaimed in admiration.

But other teachers shook their heads, because many people, due to nervousness or difficulty adapting to the gravity environment in the initial stage, failed at Card Crafting and had to immediately re-grind their ink and try again.

Five minutes later.

Jiang Zhendong chuckled, clapping his hands in praise. "Wu Chun did well! He's already finished his first Pet Card. Excluding the time he spent grinding ink, it only took him a little over six minutes to craft this Card."

Some teachers looked at the screen and saw that Wu Chun had indeed finished his first Card and was now closing his eyes to rest and recover some energy. They were all surprised and full of praise.

Some also looked at Sun Yiying, then at Tang Jian.

Suddenly, Jiang Zhendong's eyes widened, and the smile vanished from his face.

Thanks to Gentle Brother, "Wang Zhihu Zheyie," "Big Rou Rou Loves JianW," and "My Main Account is Bound" for the rewards!

The recommendations are doing quite well, still ranked second. Mua~~~ Keep it up!