His teeth clenched and eyes wide, Chen Mu strained to marshal his last thread of Perception. His normally calm, composed eyes were bloodshot, yet the movements of his hand remained as gentle as a breeze brushing his face.
With a deft hooked stroke, the pen tip traced an exquisite, hair-thin arc, shimmering with a light barely visible to the naked eye. Then his wrist turned, abruptly exerting force in a powerful downward press. With that forceful stroke, Chen Mu poured his last thread of Perception into the card.
The entire card suddenly blazed with light. Its faintly glowing surface flashed brilliantly, then returned to normal, leaving an Illusion Card with nothing visibly remarkable about it. Only that final burst of light left a vivid afterimage on Chen Mu's retinas.
Chen Mu collapsed into his chair, soaked through and breathing heavily, but his eyes sparkled with joy.
It worked! He had done it!
Although the process had been fraught with danger, he had still succeeded!
This was the most complex Illusion Card he had ever made. Its consumption of Perception had far exceeded his expectations, but he had succeeded nonetheless. An indescribable joy filled his chest.
He picked up the Illusion Card with a slightly limp hand. Although he already knew the pattern on its surface by heart, he could still feel the mystery and power it represented.
Chen Mu remained intensely excited for the rest of the day. He kept inserting the card into his Wrist Device and watching it over and over, never tiring of it.
The next day, however, once he had calmed down, Chen Mu had to consider what had happened yesterday. He knew luck had played a crucial part in his success. If he were asked to make it again today, he would have only a fifty percent chance of succeeding.
Fifty percent-that probability was far too low, and it meant astonishing waste. Yet neither he nor Lei Zi could afford such losses right now.
He suddenly thought of the Flame Dragon Illusion Card he had made. It was far more exquisite than this Illusion Card, yet making it had been much easier. Why was that? By all rights, the Flame Dragon Illusion Card should have been more difficult, but reality was precisely the opposite. He remembered clearly that although he had encountered a few minor problems while making the Flame Dragon Card, the process had been quite manageable overall.
Only after analyzing it carefully did he understand. Although this Card Film required simple illusions, its demands for movement were extremely high. That was why making it had been so taxing.
Movement... movement...
Chen Mu sank into thought, the fingers of his right hand unconsciously tapping the table.
All at once, Chen Mu recalled another type of card demonstrated within the mysterious card's illusory realm-the Planning Card. He had only skimmed the information about Planning Cards, taking a shallow taste and going no further, since his attention had been focused on Illusion Cards. But one sentence had left a deep impression on him: "Planning means dynamic calculation."
That very sentence had flashed through his mind like a spark just now. He had a faint feeling that this Planning Card, something he had never heard of before, might solve his problem.
The sudden discovery invigorated Chen Mu. Without hesitation, he immediately entered the card's illusory realm.
Chen Mu stayed inside for two days and a night. When he emerged from the mysterious card's illusory realm, his eyes were sunken, his lips cracked, and his entire body was limp, unable to muster even a trace of strength. Despite not having drunk a drop of water for two days and a night, his spirits showed no sign of flagging. His eyes shone as though he had just found some rare, priceless treasure.
He was exhilarated, his mind alight with excitement, and wished he could start working immediately. But his wretched physical condition forced him to eat and rest first.
Even while he rested, his mind never stopped. His brain raced, desperately digesting everything he had gained from the illusory realm over the past few days, while he unconsciously wolfed down bread.
No one could have understood Chen Mu's joy at that moment. It was even stronger than what he had felt when he first learned to make Energy Cards. Back then, he had been young and knew little of the world, unable to understand how greatly learning to make Energy Cards would affect his life. Now, however, he knew perfectly well that these cards called "Planning Cards" would turn his future upside down.
For the next three days, Chen Mu plunged headfirst into his work. He paid no attention to anything outside it, and even when Lei Zi came over, he drove him out.
Now there was only one thing in his eyes: his new idea.
Hong Tao looked at his classmates, then at the students from the Star Academy, and could not help marveling inwardly. A major academy truly was a major academy! Almost all the East Guard Academy students were traveling on foot, while the Star Academy students flew slowly through the air at an unhurried pace.
Although Hong Tao could fly too, he knew he could not do so as effortlessly as these Star Academy students. Flight required an Airflow Card; even the Shuttlecraft sold on the market used Airflow Cards as their most basic core. The structure of a Shuttlecraft allowed it to take to the air with ease, but the human body was not shaped for flight. Flying with an Airflow Card alone therefore required exceptionally skilled control. The higher the grade of the Airflow Card, the fiercer the airflow it released, and the difficulty of controlling it rose sharply in turn. Flight also required an extremely strong sense of balance.
The East Guard Academy students generally used Light Cards. A simplified version of an Airflow Card, a Light Card produced a downward current that reduced the burden of body weight on the legs. Convenient and simple to use, it could greatly increase walking speed and conserve stamina.
Experts, however, generally disdained such cards. High-grade Airflow Cards generated tremendous thrust, allowing them to fly even faster than Shuttlecraft and maneuver far more nimbly.
Hong Tao could tell at a glance that the Airflow Cards these Star Academy students were using were at least three-star. At his level, he could also use a three-star Airflow Card, but he was not yet proficient enough. The East Guard Academy students looked at the Star Academy students with envy, leaving the teachers leading the group with a rather bitter taste in their mouths.
Young people inevitably had a competitive streak. Although they knew the others far surpassed them, they still mustered their strength and pushed forward. The group's pace immediately increased considerably. Seeing this, the teachers leading them did not intervene.
Before long, they were about to enter a dangerous area. Only then did the teachers order everyone to stop and rest to recover their stamina. Most of the East Guard Academy students were panting. Their headlong sprint had consumed a great deal of energy, and Card Adepts had no particular advantage in physical stamina.
By contrast, every Star Academy student looked at ease, their breathing entirely steady.
Although the teachers felt somewhat embarrassed, they were well aware of the dangers ahead. No matter what, they had to ensure their students' safety.
One of the Star Academy students, a young man wearing glasses, suddenly turned his head. His right hand shot up, all five fingers loosely spread.
A Moon-White Wave Blade half the size of a palm materialized above his hand, resembling a crescent hook. A cold gleam flashed behind his glasses, and the student gently pushed his right hand forward.
As though suddenly freed from its restraints, the crescent-shaped wave blade shot away like an arrow loosed from a bow. It tore through the air with a clear, high whistle, streaking toward a clump of bushes roughly three hundred meters away.
(End of chapter)