Attribute Panel

A streak of red light rapidly emerged across Tang Jian's retina.

At the same time, the One-Star Energy Card on the table completely lost its luster, the energy within it utterly depleted.

Tang Jian felt as though a surge of energy had suddenly appeared inside his body.

The numerical value of this energy far exceeded the Card Energy in his body, and it even rapidly gathered in some part of his brain.

It nearly scared him out of his mind.

Energy striking the brain could very well turn him into an idiot—or wreck his brain entirely.

Yet the energy that had appeared within his body was quickly devoured by his brain, somehow causing no harm at all.

At the same time, Tang Jian saw a set of red data appear on his retina.

"Master: Tang Jian.

Card Energy: 13/30+

Spirit: 2/4+

Physique: 6.1+

Special Functions: 1, ???(???)

2, Dream. (???)

Current Energy: 100+"

"What the hell is this?"

Tang Jian shook his head, only to find that the data displayed amid the red glow before his eyes was still there.

"Damn it!?" Tang Jian frowned. He got up, held onto the railing, and walked to the restroom in the corridor outside. Turning on the light, he looked into the mirror.

He found that the data was still there, showing no signs of disappearing. Yet in the reflection of his face in the mirror, there seemed to be no such data in his eyes.

"Data appearing in my eyes... Is this some kind of status panel? This setup... why does it seem so familiar?"

Tang Jian wore the expression of a confused Black guy.

This trope felt incredibly familiar. It was exactly like the plots in the novels he had confiscated from his younger sister, Tang Yueyue, in the past.

Some novel protagonist obtained a cheat ability similar to an in-game Attribute Panel, then frantically mashed the "+" signs, his strength soaring as he went from loser to winner.

Then it turned out his parents were not his biological parents, while his real parents belonged to some incredibly powerful family. His younger sister was not biologically related to him either, and she just happened to like the protagonist. In the end, the protagonist became a winner in life.

Could this be a dream?

About five minutes later.

Tang Jian finally calmed down.

The data panel before his eyes still had not disappeared, and Tang Jian accepted the reality of it.

At the same time, he vaguely guessed where this thing had come from.

Since he had now been reborn, and this thing had inexplicably appeared inside his body, while the Attribute Panel itself was red...

Then, based on reasoning that was unreliable yet highly plausible, this Attribute Panel was most likely something created by that Red Card.

"This special function should be the Red Card's ability, right? What do all these question marks mean? Does it mean the specific functions can't be determined for now? But what does 'Dream' mean? Could it be saying that I'm dreaming right now?"

Tang Jian was somewhat unclear on that. His attention turned to the attributes on the Attribute Panel.

Card Energy: 13/30+

This was easy enough to understand. Thirteen probably represented the Card Energy currently remaining in his body, while thirty referred to the total amount of Card Energy he possessed at his peak. As for that "+" sign at the end, it was practically begging to be pressed.

The moment Tang Jian thought of this, he noticed that the "+" sign on the data panel before his eyes seemed to shrink slightly.

No.

It had not shrunk.

It had clearly been pressed downward.

Then he felt a surge of Card Energy suddenly well up in his brain and fill his body.

His muscles, limbs, and bones suddenly seemed to be filled with air, swelling with a faint ache.

After that, Tang Jian noticed a change in the data panel before his eyes.

"Card Energy: 31/31+"

"Uh??!"

With the same confused Black-guy expression, Tang Jian froze in shock.

This actually worked?

Tang Jian carefully sensed his body, but he could not be certain.

His Card Energy was not very strong to begin with. Relying solely on his own perception, it was extremely difficult to accurately tell whether he had gained just 1 point of Card Energy, unless he had an instrument that could measure Card Energy.

"Did I really get stronger?"

Tang Jian continued observing and discovered that the Current Energy at the bottom had changed from 100 to 0.

That was to say, his Card Energy had increased by 1 point, and the price paid was the 100-point Current Energy loss.

And this Current Energy had likely been absorbed by the Red Card from the One-Star Energy Card he had just made, then consumed to replenish his body. It had not only restored his expenditure, but also enhanced his Card Energy.

Holy shit!!

There was actually such a ridiculous trick?

Tang Jian was somewhat stunned. This completely overturned everything he had tried before.

Although 1 point of Card Energy was not much.

If he kept practicing the Three-Point-One-Line Technique every day, he should be able to steadily gain 1 point of Card Energy every three days.

But consuming the energy within an Energy Card to directly raise his own Card Energy was practically a cheat code.

After the human body's Card Energy was depleted, it could be restored through precious energy crystals known as Card Energy Crystals.

Even during ordinary cultivation, using Card Energy Crystals as an aid could increase the rate at which Card Energy grew.

But he had truly never heard of a One-Star Energy Card being able to achieve an effect similar to a Card Energy Crystal.

"A single One-Star Energy Card can raise my Card Energy by 1 point. If that's the case, I only need to get hold of 100 One-Star Energy Cards to gain 100 points of Card Energy. At that point, with 131 points of Card Energy, I could directly get into a prestigious university through the college entrance exam."

Tang Jian felt as though spring had arrived for him.

According to the ranking system for Card Apprentices.

Card Apprentices were divided into one to five stars.

A One-Star Card Apprentice had 10–49 Card Energy.

Two-Star: 50–99;

Three-Star: 100–199;

Four-Star: 200–499;

Five-Star: 500–999.

During last year's college entrance exam, anyone whose Card Energy exceeded 100 could generally get into a first-tier university as long as their academic subjects were not too poor.

Those with Card Energy above 130 could absolutely get into a prestigious university if their academic scores met the requirements.

Tang Jian had originally believed that even after being reborn, even if he diligently practiced the Three-Point-One-Line Technique every day while frantically making One-Star Energy Cards to earn money and buying medicine to increase his strength, he could at most raise himself to the level of a Two-Star Card Apprentice within a little over seventy days.

A Two-Star Card Apprentice could still get into a first-tier university by working harder and displaying outstanding card-making talent.

But getting into a prestigious university had seemed like a distant hope.

But now...

Tang Jian could not help but grin foolishly.

He still had 2,300 yuan. If he spent all of it on Blank Cards, he could buy a batch of fifty cards.

With his current awareness and skill, he should be able to make at least forty-five One-Star Blank Energy Cards.

That meant he could use those One-Star Blank Energy Cards to raise his Card Energy by a full 45 points.

That night, Tang Jian was too excited to sleep. He tossed and turned in bed, continuously studying the Attribute Panel before his eyes. He also figured out how to turn this peculiar panel on and off.

He had already confirmed that no one but himself could see the Attribute Panel. When he looked into a mirror, there was no such panel over his eyes.

That made it even more secure.

Tang Jian grew even more curious about the Red Card.

The officially defined card types fell into four main categories: combat, support, pets, and machinery, with many smaller branches beneath them.

But card grades, from lowest to highest, were white, green, blue, purple, orange, gold, and black.

There was no red among them.

"Who exactly created the Red Card?"

"Forget it. No point thinking so much about it."

"I remember that when there are only sixty days left until the college entrance exam, the school will organize a Rocket Sprint Class. To join this sprint class, students must either have more than 50 points of Card Energy, or be able to successfully make a One-Star Blank Energy Card in one attempt."

"In my previous life, Yang Mao joined that Rocket Class, but I couldn't squeeze in back then."

"Maybe I should take a little risk. If I really run out of money, I'll risk logging onto the Dark Web and sell some knowledge and techniques through underground black-market channels."

As Tang Jian thought, he gradually fell asleep.

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