Chen Mu

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chen Mu (陈暮)
Alias(es)	Blockhead, Lei Zi’s nickname for him; Yao Ke, his identity at East Guard Academy; Cao Dong, his identity in Luoyou City; Qiao Yuan, his disguised identity in Zha’erqian; Chief Steward White, his title while serving Taishu Cheng and later leading the Wood Character Camp 12 90 228 398 446 564
Gender	Male
Age	Approximately seventeen or eighteen during the Jungle expedition, according to Bo Wen’s information 175
Affiliation	Low-Level Illusion Card Club; Skywing; Wood Character Camp; Snow Silk Worm Card Adept Corps; East Guard 57 184 571 623
Occupation/Role	Card Crafter, combatant, card-machinery inventor, commander of the Wood Character Camp, and founder of East Guard 199 538 571 623
Status	Alive at the final documented scene, facing Tang Hanpei in the ruins of Luoyou City; the supplied passage does not establish the duel’s outcome 623
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “Making a Living from Cards” 1

Power Progression

Card star ratings describe his crafting achievements or equipment, while numbered perception levels describe his personal power. His perception-sensitivity index and Black Line Star Ranking are separate measurements 175 428 497.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
One-star Energy Card maker	1 2	Maintains a daily quota of twenty-five cards. His experience with tens of thousands of cards lets him notice the Mysterious Card’s unusual weight.
Early perception use and physical conditioning	12	One-star Energy Card production becomes nearly fifty percent more efficient. He can perform half of the Body-Strengthening Exercise’s eighteen movements.
Developed physique	29	Persistent exercise gives him a proportioned, muscular body, exceptional flexibility, and the ability to lift three times his former load.
Spindle-shaped perception vortex	76	His formerly gas-like perception reorganizes into a revolving spindle. Hair-fine strands respond faster and detect minute changes.
Improved perception efficiency	110	Can produce fifteen Rain Shuttle Card IIs per day while reserving more time for flight training.
Formal close-combat foundations	121 123	Marco Witt’s training builds on his conditioning and self-taught aerial practice. He earns perfect scores at lower evasion difficulties and over seventy at difficulty eighty.
Breath-Concealing Method activation	125 126	Restructures his spindle-shaped perception using insights from close-combat training. Extends one concealed session to thirty-three seconds by accelerating his temperature drop.
Sustained breath concealment	127	After seven days, can enter the state in under three minutes, generally sustain it for 150 seconds, and reach a maximum of three minutes. Severe side effects remain.
Level-four perception, at least middle tier	175	Bo Wen estimates that his strength may already reach the upper tier. Compressing his perception around an ancient disc produces exceptional precision.
Perception increase of over twenty percent	198 199	A breakthrough stimulated by Wei’a’s murderous aura sharply increases his perception, initially causing distressing hypersensitivity before his body adapts.
Mastery of low-level illusion cards	199	His experience with Card Films and continued practice make him a master of one-star and two-star illusion cards.
Three-star and four-star crafting breakthrough	238 240	Access to Yang An’s rare materials unleashes a crafting frenzy that produces the Digital Series. His day’s total, including the earlier Folded Swallow Wave Card, reaches twenty-three cards.
Energy-model training breakthrough	249	Solves the Y09 energy-block problem after 1,611 failures. Similar blocks become much easier, and he completes over half of a 266-block model in half a day.
Perception-sensitivity index: 72	355	Rises from 70 to 72. Failed planning-card experiments lead him back to the Mysterious Card’s Intermediate Planning Card Theory Tutorial.
Double-helix perception	360	His spindle vortex becomes two opposing strands. At roughly eight times his former maximum rotational speed, one strand forms a mist with greatly improved environmental sensing.
Advanced four-star drawing techniques	362	After more than ten days, achieves a success rate above fifty percent on a card requiring over ten thousand precise oscillations—techniques normally associated with five-star cards.
Integrated personal combat cards	368	Completes improved Big Loach, Myriad Change, and Patterned Shuttle cards. Lasts longer against Wei’a and decisively defeats Xiao Bo after Xiao Bo reaches level six.
Five Golden Word Lock techniques	396 398	Expands from the identified commands “blast,” “guard,” and “bind” to five usable “words.” The two additional commands are not named in the supplied passage.
Black Line Star Ranking: 50th	428	His latest ranking reflects victories over powerful opponents in actual combat; it is not a perception level.
Xize’s perception techniques	443 452 453	Memorizes Xize’s instructional card, successfully applies his combat approach against Baluojia, and demonstrates sharply improved anticipation during a banquet ambush.
Enhanced strength and muscle control	481	Transformation by the Golden-Spotted Soft Jelly Fungus enables a complete Air Technique. Combines his physical strength with Zero Style analysis to strike an opponent’s weak point.
Perception-sensitivity index: 95	497	Unlocks the seven great energy structures and the Single-Breath Perception Training Method in the Mysterious Card.
Level-six-to-seven breakthrough threshold	540	Extreme depletion, deep serenity, and Single-Breath training accelerate his growth. His breakthrough remains unresolved at this chapter’s end.
Level-seven perception confirmed	546	Has crossed the barrier, although his perception capacity remains weaker than that of the established level-seven fighters accompanying him.
Further, unspecified breakthrough	584	Adapts to a newly strengthened state through precise movement, Bipolar Card manipulation, and Energy Glove exercises. No numerical level is supplied.
Combat strength catches up with Zara	587	After roughly a dozen battles, closes the gap with Zara and becomes their principal attacker while continuing to improve.
Calculation-based Zero Style	615	Develops his own version of Xize’s technique, replacing an emphasis on instinct and sixth sense with computational analysis.

Background / History

Chen Mu grew up as an impoverished orphan and wandered the streets from childhood. Fighting was commonplace in that life, but card making became his livelihood: at his first appearance, he works alone producing one-star Energy Cards. Later investigations establish that he spent four years making them with unusual precision 1 132 328 622.

Lei Zi was his childhood companion and initially his only friend. After Lei Zi’s adoptive parents died, the two worked together on Card Films, including Encounter and The Legend of the Mecha Master. Chen Mu made the cards, while Lei Zi wrote the scripts; Chen Mu considered those scripts the heart of their work 12 99.

His familiarity with ordinary Energy Cards allowed him to recognize something wrong with an apparently commonplace card: it was slightly too heavy. This Mysterious Card became the foundation of his later card making, perception training, and physical development. Its creator is eventually identified as Rosenberg, whose disciples disguised it as a one-star Energy Card to preserve it 2 611.

At the Low-Level Illusion Card Club, other members silently acknowledged Chen Mu as their best card maker. He rejected Aminia Group’s five-million-Odi offer in favor of Vico’s two-million-Odi commission, making Lei Zi’s appointment as chief planner his condition. Wang Hao also reported that Chen Mu would become the club’s Technical Director 56 57.

Conflict with the Zuo Family forced him into concealment. Under the identity Yao Ke, he attended East Guard Academy’s Sponsored Class, deliberately keeping his schoolwork merely competent. The family circulated notices portraying his former appearance as that of a brutal murderer, but his changed face protected him until his distinctive card structures provided a new lead 81 90 91.

After Man Siying recognized him and warned him of the danger, Chen Mu immediately left for Amey City. There he escaped seven professional Card Adepts and killed two during the escape, including the Zuo Family’s local commander. His victories did not mean he was stronger in a fair fight: the passage explicitly notes that several high-level opponents he had killed could have defeated him repeatedly in direct combat 91 93.

Appearance

• Original build: Initially scrawny; the Body-Strengthening Exercise produces a well-proportioned body with faintly visible muscles and exceptional flexibility 29.
• Ordinary presentation: Described as sallow-faced and unremarkable-looking during his dealings with Bo Wen. His appearance repeatedly causes others to underestimate his abilities 57 128.
• Changing disguises: His altered appearance hides him from Zuo Family arrest notices. Su Liu Cherou later transforms him into an ugly-looking man for his mission away from Snow Silk Worm Valley 81 369.
• Qiao Yuan persona: His ugly disguise looks weathered and approximately thirty to A Sang; this is an observer’s impression of the disguise, not his actual age 393.
• Masked identity: Chief Steward White conceals his face behind a mask. Xie Yanbai notices his clear, bright eyes and wounds still visible on exposed skin 492.
• Breath-concealed gaze: A faint black veil appears over his eyes, accompanied by an expressionless, lifeless stare. Similar changes can surface involuntarily after repeated practice 128 130.

Personality

Chen Mu is naturally reserved, taciturn, and direct. He dislikes empty pleasantries and prefers solitary work to social display. Marco Witt finds him exceptionally focused during monotonous training, but worries that his poor communication will hinder teamwork 12 123 362.

His discipline is unusually severe. He repeatedly pushes through exhaustion without prompting, reviews failed attempts, and tests improvements rather than treating failure as proof that a task is impossible. This persistence underlies both his combat development and breakthroughs such as the Y09 energy-block problem 123 127 249.

He remains skeptical of praise because his standards come from stronger examples. Bo Wen’s admiration for the Bloodedge Card leaves him unmoved: its damage value is 611, while the Tail-Shedding Shuttle Card reaches 756 using inferior materials. Likewise, lasting half a minute against Wei’a feels like an achievement to him even when his subordinates already consider him powerful 128 366.

Freedom matters more to him than institutional prestige. He rejects joining the Six Great Academies despite recognizing the advantages of their resources, refuses alliances that would entangle him in unwanted conflicts, and initially dreams of quietly studying cards in a laboratory or holding an ordinary company job 170 240 406.

His reluctance toward violence does not prevent decisive killing when threatened. Increasing ruthlessness troubles him, as does the Breath-Concealing Method’s emotional detachment. He eventually learns to use battle intent deliberately for intimidation, allowing reputation and fear to end some confrontations without fighting 126 170 392 393.

Behind his guarded manner is sustained loyalty. He gives Lei Zi opportunities, rewards teachers and subordinates with useful equipment, protects the Wanqi children from unnecessary risk, and refuses to discard longtime troops merely because stronger recruits are available. His leadership develops gradually as responsibility forces him to plan beyond his own research 57 128 240 443 546 577.

Abilities & Skills

Card Crafting and Chip Theory

• Precision through repetition: Years of Energy Card production give him exceptional drawing control and sensitivity to small physical differences between cards 1 2 328.
• Illusion-card expertise: Creates complete Card Films, advertisements, and low-level illusion cards; by Chapter 199, his one-star and two-star work is described as master-level 99 184 199.
• Structural optimization: Excels at design, synchronization, and energy-structure improvements that formally trained Card Crafters find difficult 128 263.
• Chip Theory: Treats it as his most fundamental secret and refuses to sell the Folded Swallow Wave Card’s production method because doing so would expose that knowledge 254.
• Rapid production: With students preparing ink, can make forty Blue Moon Gun core cards and two Small Cluster Cannon cores daily 165.
• Knowledge gaps: Lacks parts of a systematic education, including basic professional classifications and principles that can temporarily stall otherwise advanced research 249 263 362.
• Practical limits: High-star methods and the Mysterious Card’s deduction model remain unusable when his perception is insufficient 498.

Perception Control and Training

• Fine manipulation: Sacrifices sensing range to concentrate perception and greatly increase precision 175.
• Double-helix structure: One strand can become a sensing mist at high rotational speeds; the other is tough, malleable, and capable of forming a fine filament 360.
• High-speed sensing: The mist restores environmental awareness with improved clarity and range. Ordinary double-helix rotation does not provide the same sensing, and pushing it to ten times his former limit causes discomfort 360.
• Single-Breath training: Coordinates tightening and releasing perception with inhalation and exhalation. Its forty-three precise steps must be completed within one breath 497 498.
• Extreme training: Uses a modified card-making machine to drain remaining perception below five percent before combining deep serenity with Single-Breath practice 540.
• Capacity limitation: Even after reaching level seven, his reserves lag behind established experts. Powerful cards can consume too much perception for prolonged combat 464 546.
• Unsafe foundations: Xize identifies serious flaws in his improvised perception training and warns that their danger will increase as he grows stronger 439.

Breath-Concealing Methods

• Detection evasion: Uses breath concealment to bypass the Ning base’s detection system and open an exit with Cheng Ying’s Room Card 130.
• Heightened analysis: Enters an exceptionally calm state that maximizes his existing skills, speeds decisions, and improves tactical execution 127 130.
• Severe cost: Suffers vomiting, chills, exhaustion, and rapid weight loss. Familiarity and better control improve activation and duration, but do not remove the side effects 126 127.
• No substitute for experience: The method cannot supply techniques or combat awareness he has never learned; its effectiveness grows with his actual knowledge 148.
• False Breath-Concealing Method: Develops a derivative rather than simply using the original Cross Night technique. Combines it with darkness and Big Loach’s movement to make his presence difficult to track 208 348.
• Declining usefulness of the original: By his time in Zha’erqian, the full method’s short duration and aftereffects make it poorly suited to his current battles; deep serenity is more useful for recovery 398.

Close Combat, Uncard Flow, and Aerial Movement

• Training sources: Combines childhood brawling, the Devil Woman’s concealment and killing methods, Marco Witt’s close-combat fundamentals, and Wei’a’s conditioning and Uncard Flow techniques 132 199 409.
• Aerial combinations: Links Spiral-Roll Drift, Fish-Belly Rebound, and a basic Angular Shift to defeat Bo Wen’s prediction of his flight path 130 131.
• Practical evasion: Uses wave-like movement, pendulum-like swaying, afterimages, and sudden directional changes to close distance or disrupt aim 219 372.
• Physical power: The Golden-Spotted Soft Jelly Fungus improves his strength and muscle control enough to execute a complete Air Technique 481.
• Resilience: Biaoqing implantation later gives his body extraordinary resistance, allowing him to retain control under dangerous vibration 605.
• Limits: Some advanced techniques exceed his physical capacity and can damage his muscles or elbow. Bu Mo eventually surpasses him in Uncard Flow alone 401 402 535.

Zero Style

• Origin: Xize’s sensing technique, derived from the Physical Refinement Principle, offers extraordinary sensitivity to physical objects 615.
• Anticipation: Reads movement and weak points with enough precision to guide ordinary-looking attacks, evade subtle counterattacks, and intercept assassins 452 453 481.
• Chen Mu’s adaptation: Builds models and calculations rather than relying principally on Xize’s accumulated instinct and sixth sense 425 615.
• Flexible application: Combines Zero Style with Myriad Change or Uncard Flow, changing approaches when an opponent resists another technique 527 615.
• Danger sensitivity: Two years of almost daily battles sharpen his awareness of threats and help drive the state’s analysis to its limit under pressure 605.

Card Machinery and Command

• Machinery research: Learns from Alfonso and ancient tutorials, applying card structures to weapons, traps, communication systems, and industrial equipment 154 180 210 355.
• Computational equipment: Creates the Calculation Box, whose optimized energy structures are valuable enough to attract major academies if exposed 497 622.
• Counter-surveillance: Develops communications-monitoring equipment with Wei’a and Bu Mo, using it to identify infiltrators within the Wood Character Camp 538.
• Reconnaissance: Produces Fern Disks and modifies the Communications Vehicle to more than double their operating range 549.
• Team-oriented weapons: Works with Bagnell to divide attacks among specialists responsible for energy optimization, target scanning, and attack execution 261 263.
• Adaptive organization: Designs different battalions’ cards around available materials and develops tactical regulations suited to his self-taught officers 532 533 534.
• Leadership growth: Moves from delegating almost everything to independently planning, enforcing discipline, and commanding a coalition 229 546 566.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

Personal Equipment

• Mysterious Card — Rosenberg’s preserved legacy, disguised as a one-star Energy Card. Supplies card-making knowledge, physical exercises, perception training, combat instruction, and machinery theory; Chen Mu considers it his most important card 497 611.
• Wrist Device — Holds and activates his cards. His later four-slot device forces him to choose carefully among an Energy Card, Airflow Card, Myriad Change, and Bipolar Card 74 527.
• Weak Water pen set — Seven specialized pens made by Kuo Haofeng, received from Bo Wen in exchange for the Bloodedge Card. Improves perception control and drawing precision; Chen Mu deliberately avoids becoming dependent on it 122 128 151.
• Energy Gloves — Sophisticated card machinery studied with the Wanqi Clan and adapted for mass production to strengthen his troops 576 577.
• Thousand Miles — Communication cards used to exchange information with Undercity, contact separated allies, and reconnect with the Wanqi Clan 201 423 572.
• Calculation Box — Computational machinery used to optimize energy structures; later becomes central to East Guard’s research program 497 622.
• Xize’s instructional Illusion Card — Contains detailed perception techniques. Chen Mu memorizes it and destroys it to prevent the information from being lost or stolen 443.
• Xize’s notebooks — Given publicly at the Thousand Lakes tournament; coveted by Jia Yingxia and other powerful figures 564 565.

Combat Cards

• Tail-Shedding Shuttle Card — A precision attack card with a documented damage value of 756. Chen Mu uses repeated, carefully timed strikes to break an Energy Shield and targets vulnerable joints or eyes in larger enemies 128 170 206.
• Big Loach — His self-made Airflow Card, emphasizing maneuverability over straight-line speed. Its improved version is elusive and produces nearly undetectable energy fluctuations 128 130 368.
• Dual-Polarity Thunderball / Bipolar Card — Combines offense and defense; five coordinated thunderballs form a powerful shield. Sang Hanshui identifies the Bipolar Card as a rare work by Zhongda Academy’s Cao Bairan, but its instructional legacy is unknown 127 411 527.
• Myriad Change — Creates a thin protective energy layer that changes shape, color, and form, including into weapons. Less powerful than Golden Word Lock, but far better suited to Chen Mu’s flexible fighting style 368 411.
• Patterned Shuttle — A simplified Threaded Sniper Shuttle designed as his stealthy ranged attack. Breaks a defensive specialist’s Energy Shield after three strikes 368 452.
• Golden Word Lock — Formerly carried by Mota; associated with the vanished Word Faction. Its functions require deciphering spoken commands, including “blast,” “guard,” and “bind” 392 396 411.
• Snake Mirror — A Faction Era detection card whose scans even Chen Mu cannot evade. Especially suited to team combat and monitoring an area 411.
• Node-Style Link — A card accompanied by a tactical legacy that Chen Mu studies while developing his own approach 402 411.
• Eternal Night — Powerful but too perception-intensive to serve as his normal combat card. Later ranked third among the cards in his possession 527 611.
• Evil Lord’s Eyes — A seven-star card Xize gives him before departing, alongside a reminder of his promise to challenge Tang Hanpei 571.
• Veil of Mist — An otherwise reliably disorienting technique that fails to affect Ange, prompting Chen Mu to switch to Zero Style combined with Uncard Flow 615.

Notable Creations

Creation	Documented function or significance
Encounter and The Legend of the Mecha Master	Card Films made with Lei Zi, who provided their scripts 99.
Loach Airflow Card	Difficult enough that Man Siying cannot make it; Hong Tao seeks Chen Mu specifically for a replacement 90.
Rain Shuttle Card II	Its anti-scanning behavior destroys both the card and an instrument attempting to scan it, obstructing copying 110.
Hundred Blades	Earns Will’s complete satisfaction and helps establish Chen Mu’s reputation as a Class A Contribution-rated crafter 119 141.
Bloodedge	Three-star card firing one red wave blade composed of five overlapping blades; damage value 611, with faster attack execution than a comparable Stacked Wave Card 128.
Modified Cheng Ying card	Adds a concentrated beam that pierces fifteen tree trunks and energy points that burst into needles inside a target 151.
Blue Moon Gun and Small Cluster Cannon core cards	Three-star components produced with Alfonso and the Wanqi students’ assistance 165.
Folded Swallow Wave Card	An advanced chip-based design whose production depends on rare harewhisker crystal and closely guarded knowledge 238 254.
Digital Series	Numbered cards auctioned anonymously through Yang Auction House. Exceptional performance draws Federation-wide attention; card 006 reaches a bid of sixty-one million Odi 240.
Tactical Shuttle Card Sets	Team-oriented equipment developed from Bagnell’s specialist-coordination concept; 150 sets are completed 261 263 269.
Threaded Sniper Shuttle, Odi Burner, Stasis Ring, and Folded Shape Blast	Specialized large-battle cards covering precision attacks, anti-shield damage, stationary energy defense, and explosive attacks. Their training requirements, cost, or defensive limits prevent them from replacing ordinary combat cards entirely 368.

Relationships

• Lei Zi — Childhood friend and Card Film partner. Chen Mu trusts his scripts, secures a planning opportunity for him, and later leads him out of Thousand Lakes City 12 57 99 566.
• Zara / Devil Woman — Early instructor in concealment, evasion, and lethal close combat; also central to his search for answers about the biaoqing. She later stands beside him publicly and fights alongside him during his rapid improvement 199 556 564 587.
• Marco Witt — Close-combat teacher who gives him meticulous training and every practical trick he knows. Chen Mu expresses gratitude with the Big Loach card and is saddened to learn that Marco later died on a mission 123 128 572.
• Wei’a — Protector, physical trainer, sparring partner, and adviser. His overwhelming strength shapes Chen Mu’s standards; he accompanies him from the Wanqi settlement and carries him during recovery from severe injuries 180 193 366 423.
• Xize — Mentor who identifies dangerous flaws in his perception training and teaches him techniques in exchange for challenging Tang Hanpei. Later gives him notebooks and Evil Lord’s Eyes 439 443 564 571.
• Su Liu Cherou — Medical expert who investigates his difficult condition and later leads his medical personnel. Their relationship includes concern, warmth, embarrassment, and teasing, without a confirmed romantic status in the supplied material 229 235 350 571.
• Bagnell — Trusted commander and tactical adviser. Develops coordinated combat plans, commands the Snow Silk Worm Card Adept Corps, and teaches Chen Mu and Jiang Liang military matters 261 571.
• Xi Ping — Logistics chief and loyal supporter. Handles recruitment, accounts, intelligence, and supplies; spends years gathering a vast reserve of rare materials for Chen Mu 355 571 622.
• Jiang Liang — Training specialist and deputy commander of the Wood Character Camp. Chen Mu values his ability to build a disciplined force and entrusts him with East Guard’s defense 571 579.
• Ru Qiu — Admiring student and crafting assistant. Her observation about synchronization solves a key design problem; Chen Mu later teaches her basic planning-card knowledge 263 497.
• Alfonso — Card-machinery collaborator whose metalworking complements Chen Mu’s card expertise. Continues developing the Wanqi Clan’s technology and later helps build East Guard’s research strength 165 174 572 622.
• Liduhong and the Wanqi Clan — Initially complicated allies who become deeply grateful to Chen Mu for leading them through catastrophe. He teaches their children, reconnects with them years later, and refuses to endanger Liduhong on the Hundred Abyss expedition 160 171 576 577.
• Xiao Bo — Combatant and subordinate whose early contests with Chen Mu develop into willing support and familiar teasing. Rushes to find him after seeing recordings of his dangerous battles 315 443 464.
• Sang Hanshui — Subordinate and expert in forgotten card history. Chen Mu values his appraisal knowledge and equips him with Explosive Bomb and the X300 Combat Suit 411 441 443.
• Bu Mo — Wei’a’s young disciple and a companion Chen Mu grows fond of. Helps develop surveillance machinery and eventually surpasses Chen Mu in Uncard Flow techniques 409 424 535 538.
• Cheng Ying — Initially the target whose Room Card enables his escape, then a necessary Jungle companion. Her field expertise sustains the group; she later remains in Undercity to learn 130 141 180.
• Bo Wen — Recruiter, pursuer, and wary temporary traveling companion. Chen Mu admires his ability but considers him dangerous enough to kill if an opportunity arises; Bo Wen’s death removes that threat 128 130 175 177.
• Qiu Shanyu — Strategist and intelligence source whom Chen Mu treats cautiously. Designs a covert biaoqing advertisement campaign and later commits Faya’s support to his command 496 538 564 566.
• Jiao Si and Siyuan Academy — Longstanding allies. Jiao Si publicly backs him against Frostmoon Cold Isle and maintains their friendship after returning to his academy 261 564 571.
• Xie Yanbai — Upright fighter whom Chen Mu admires and quickly befriends. Provides protection and intelligence assistance through Zhongda Academy 492 497 508.
• Qingqing — Star Academy investigator and distrusted companion. Uses knowledge of Rosenberg’s card as leverage to accompany his group; later suggests he may be able to stop Tang Hanpei 328 571 578.
• A Sang — Employer and beneficiary of his protection in Zha’erqian. Supplies information and materials, grows attracted to him, and receives political assistance before he leaves 393 402 406 418.
• Tang Hanpei — The Federation’s foremost Card Adept and the opponent named in Chen Mu’s bargain with Xize. Their final confrontation carries consequences for the Federation’s future 439 623.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Ning Family Confinement and Escape

Ning Dong places Chen Mu in a well-equipped crafting facility with a requirement to repair two hundred cards before leaving. The unpaid work and effective house arrest teach him that technical ability alone cannot guarantee freedom. He uses the facility to improve his craft while secretly building combat skills and preparing an escape 95 110 125.

He hires Marco Witt, develops breath concealment, and finally steals Cheng Ying’s Room Card to leave the base. Bo Wen pursues him through the air, where Chen Mu’s maneuverability and deceptive combinations frustrate the stronger fighter’s aim 121 127 130 131.

Jungle, Wanqi Village, and Undercity

Forced to travel with Bo Wen and Cheng Ying, Chen Mu discovers how little practical wilderness knowledge he has. Cheng Ying’s expertise compensates for that weakness. At the Wanqi village, his card modifications earn respect, and collaboration with Alfonso expands his work into card machinery 141 151 153 154.

He teaches students, produces weapon cores, and investigates ancient card-related apparatus with the group. After Bo Wen’s death, he gains access to more technical tutorials. Cheng Ying elects to remain behind to learn, while Wei’a accompanies Chen Mu back toward Federation society 165 174 175 177 180.

Skywing and the Digital Series

In Luoyou City, Chen Mu treats Skywing as a business experiment rather than a secure source of research funding. He identifies Bu Qiangdong as indispensable and delegates routine management while concentrating on crafting, training, and the Mysterious Card 184 188 229.

His unresolved medical condition changes his outlook: instead of abandoning unfinished goals, he resolves to use his time purposefully. Yang An’s material stores then enable a major crafting breakthrough, and the anonymously auctioned Digital Series attracts attention across the Federation 235 238 240.

That success also creates danger. Faya’s investigators connect the cards to Cao Dong and plan an abduction, while Chen Mu and Bagnell begin developing an organized force and specialist-coordinated card sets 249 261 263.

Snow Silk Worm Valley and the Cure Search

The valley base becomes a settled community with training, medical care, logistics, and purple glimmer extraction. Chen Mu improves its technology but repeatedly encounters the limits of his incomplete education, prompting further study in planning-card theory 355 362.

His personal cards and double-helix perception significantly improve his combat ability. Intelligence concerning the Golden-Spotted Soft Jelly Fungus and the Dongrui Taishu lineage gives him a possible route toward addressing his condition, leading him to depart in disguise 360 368 369.

Qiao Yuan in Zha’erqian

As Qiao Yuan, Chen Mu protects A Sang and builds a reputation around Golden Word Lock and his claim to have killed Mota. Yuan Linghai submits rather than fight him, while Frostmoon Cold Isle attempts to recruit him 392 393 396 406.

Chen Mu refuses entanglement, counters Lin Yao through public statements, and escapes after defeating Madam Faya. His injuries leave him unconscious for seven days and dependent on Wei’a during the ensuing journey. His combat achievements raise him to fiftieth on the Black Line Star Ranking 418 423 428.

Chief Steward White and Xize’s Legacy

Serving as Taishu Cheng’s Chief Steward White gives Chen Mu access to Dongrui’s elite circles. Xize examines his perception and offers instruction on the condition that he challenge Tang Hanpei 439 446.

Chen Mu demonstrates the resulting techniques in tournament matches and an assassination attempt, protecting the Taishu group with precise anticipatory attacks. Tan Yuwen recognizes similarities to Xize’s style, making the connection increasingly public and exposing him to the mentor’s enemies 452 453 497.

Wood Character Camp and Thousand Lakes City

Pursued by the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Chen Mu develops the Wood Character Camp through strict discipline, custom cards, tactical rules, and counter-surveillance. He reaches level seven and becomes a more independent leader as he assumes responsibility for planning without Bagnell beside him 508 523 532 538 546.

His public appearance at the Thousand Lakes tournament reveals Chief Steward White’s identity and draws support from Wei’a, Zara, Siyuan Academy, Faya, Xize, and Zhongda Academy. When Desert Camp surrounds the city, he leads an escape and accepts additional fighters only under his military discipline 564 566.

He subsequently retains the Wood Character Camp and Snow Silk Worm Card Adept Corps as separate units, with Jiang Liang as his deputy, Bagnell commanding the latter corps, Xi Ping handling logistics, and Su Liu Cherou overseeing medical care 571.

East Guard and Hundred Abyss Prefecture

Returning to Dongshang Guard City brings grief rather than triumph: his old home and Uncle Hua’s shop have changed, and Marco Witt is dead. Chen Mu declines to revive old grudges and instead reconnects with the Wanqi Clan through Thousand Miles 572.

He establishes East Guard Base, adapts Energy Gloves for his longtime troops, and prepares an expedition toward Hundred Abyss Prefecture. The journey broadens his resources and combat experience, while repeated battles with Zara drive further growth 577 578 581 584 587 605.

Final Challenge to Tang Hanpei

East Guard’s researchers, Card Crafters, machinery specialists, and stored materials rally behind Chen Mu’s preparation. Bagnell argues that although Tang Hanpei may be stronger in a fair contest, Chen Mu’s experience surviving real battles may matter more in a life-or-death struggle 622.

The final supplied scene places Chen Mu and Tang Hanpei alone above Luoyou City’s ruins. Their confrontation is described as a clash at the Federation’s pinnacle, with consequences extending far beyond the two fighters 623.

Notable Quotes

“I only made the cards. My friend wrote the scripts.”
— Crediting Lei Zi for their Card Films 99

“I'm used to being on my own. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you despite your kind intentions, Brother Zeng.”
— Declining Zeng Yushan’s offer of cooperation 406

“Not necessarily. Without Master Rosenberg, I couldn't have founded East Guard.”
— Responding to Tang Hanpei’s praise 623