Chapter Summaries

Bagnell organized and incentivized the Card Adepts while Jiao Si discovered how effective their teamwork was and ordered his students to learn from them. Wei'a silenced the Training Ground when he arrived to ask Lu Xiaoru where Fat Dog could get treatment.

• Bagnell made Jiang Liang and four other Card Adepts squad captains, formed five squads and an Elite Group, and tied their pay to assessments and performance.
• Jiao Si arranged five matches between his students and Chen Mu's Card Adepts, and his side won only one despite having stronger individual fighters.
• Jiao Si urged his students to learn from their defeat and assigned Tang Cheng to oversee their training and seek guidance from the experts.
• Lu Xiaoru worried that the Siyuan Academy students' training would disrupt her group's own schedule.
• Wei'a entered the Training Ground, silenced Chen Mu's Card Adepts, and asked Lu Xiaoru where Fat Dog could get treatment; Jiao Si began probing Wei'a with his Perception.

Wei'a left the training ground with Lu Xiaoru and Unibrow Man while the Federation's unrest spread. In Luoyou City, Zu Ning tried to seize Ren Wenzhou and his technology by force, but Xie Yanbai arrived to stop him, and the two sides faced off.

• Wei'a released a powerful killing intent that stirred Jiao Si's battle intent, declined his offer to spar, and ordered Lu Xiaoru and Unibrow Man to lead him away.
• After Wei'a left, the Card Adepts resumed training, while fighting continued to spread across the Federation.
• Zu Ning gathered Federation Comprehensive Academy forces and attacked Ren Wenzhou's residence to obtain the Central Continent Group's technology.
• Zu Ning threatened Ren Wenzhou's family and vowed to destroy the technology if he could not claim it.
• Xie Yanbai arrived with Zhongda Academy Card Adepts and confronted Zu Ning, who challenged him to fight for Ren Wenzhou.
• Xie Yanbai refused to fight while injured and silenced his agitated Card Adepts with a gesture.

The conflict between Xie Yanbai’s Zhongda Academy and Zu Ning’s Federation Comprehensive Academy erupted after a reckless attack forced Zu Ning to order an assault. At the base, Chen Mu continued making Tactical Shuttle Card Sets while Bagnell planned a fortified defense against the approaching danger.

• Xie Yanbai vowed that he and the Zhongda Academy Card Adepts would fight rather than retreat, and a Federation Comprehensive Academy member attacked him.
• Zu Ning recognized that the confrontation could no longer be stopped and ordered his side to attack.
• Professor Wen and the Siyuan Academy Card Crafters puzzled over Chen Mu’s unusual card-ink recipes, while Ru Qiu struggled to understand the cards’ patterns.
• Chen Mu completed fifteen more Tactical Shuttle Card Sets, bringing his total to forty-five, and agreed to let the Elite Group test the finished sets.
• Bagnell showed Chen Mu a defensive plan placing fortified firing positions so enemies entering from any direction would face fire from at least five locations.

Chen Mu oversaw preparations for battle and gave Ru Qiu an illusion card that demonstrated how to make the Folded Swallow Wave Card. Meanwhile, fighting between Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy intensified in Luoyou City, and Ru Qiu recognized Chen Mu’s teaching method as an unusual form of knowledge transmission.

• Chen Mu had a skilled low-level card crafter create a detailed three-dimensional image of the base for Bagnell’s tactical planning.
• Mi Xiaqing’s Zhongda Academy reinforcements fought the Federation Comprehensive Academy team, wounding and defeating Zu Ning before he escaped toward his own reinforcements.
• Both academies sent more card adepts to Luoyou City as the feud escalated, while Chen Mu hoped the conflict would keep them occupied.
• Chen Mu completed 150 Tactical Shuttle Card Sets and summoned Ru Qiu, giving her an illusion card with the Folded Swallow Wave Card’s structure, drawing motions, and compatibility parameters.
• Ru Qiu studied the demonstration and contacted Teacher Wen to ask whether he remembered an unusual method of teaching card-making through illusion card demonstrations.

Ru Qiu learned that legacy transmission through Illusion Card images was an old Faction Era practice, while Chen Mu focused on training and strengthening his base amid the standoff in Luoyou City. The chapter ended with Chen Mu taking in the construction Card Adepts, whose leader promised to guide the conversion of the Firepower Fortress into a Starfish Fortress, just as Chen Mu's Wrist Device rang.

• Ru Qiu asked Teacher Wen about using Illusion Card images to pass down legacies, and he explained that the practice was an old, rarely used custom.
• Ru Qiu kept the Folded Swallow Wave Card secret from the teachers, while they speculated that Chen Mu might have inherited a Faction Era legacy.
• Chen Mu admired the Firepower Fortress, then resumed sparring with Wei'a and gradually recovered his fighting rhythm.
• As Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy maintained a tense standoff in Luoyou City, Chen Mu resolved to use the calm to strengthen his base and himself.
• Bagnell brought the construction Card Adepts to Chen Mu, and their leader offered to guide them in turning the Firepower Fortress into a Starfish Fortress in exchange for shelter.
• Chen Mu agreed to take in the construction Card Adepts and left their arrangements to Bagnell, then received a call on his Wrist Device.

As Luoyou City’s conflict escalated, the fat man moved his valuables and son Yang Bo to Chen Mu’s compound, warning Chen Mu about the dangers of organizing local forces. Bagnell suspected Faya was behind the effort and concluded the fat man was in danger, leaving Chen Mu and his allies bracing for a storm they could not yet stop.

• The fat man asked Chen Mu to shelter his auction-house valuables and explained that a battle between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and Zhongda Academy seemed imminent.
• The fat man warned Chen Mu that a secret effort to unite Luoyou City’s forces could be a threat, entrusted Yang Bo to him, and advised him to consider the people under his command when making decisions.
• Xi Ping arrived with Yang Bo and a large convoy, moved the fat man’s goods into Chen Mu’s warehouse, and said the fat man had sent some goods to be put to use.
• Bagnell judged that Yang An was in danger and identified Faya as the likely force manipulating Luoyou City’s local leaders.
• Bagnell and Chen Mu recognized that they could not intervene for Yang An and resolved to strengthen themselves as danger gathered.

As conflict between Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy damaged the Common Districts and the academies’ reputations, Chen Mu trained in secret while facing a revolt from the twenty Card Crafters from Siyuan Academy. The chapter ended just as Chen Mu, determined to bring them into line, began to respond to their complaints.

• Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy escalated their fighting in the Common Districts, while the Federation Government failed to stop them.
• War drove migration, weakened local economies, and caused applications to Zhongda Academy, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and Desert Camp to fall.
• Chen Mu improved his Perception by training under intense water pressure, with only Wei'a watching.
• Old Wen and the other nineteen Card Crafters from Siyuan Academy confronted Chen Mu over being assigned only Energy Cards and material preparation.
• Chen Mu asked what else the Card Crafters could make, then rejected a proposed [Straight Cone Strike Card] after reviewing the required materials.
• As the Card Crafters angrily berated Chen Mu, Ru Qiu hesitated to intervene, and Chen Mu prepared to answer them.

Chen Mu accepted a wager to prove he could craft a card exceeding 850 damage with the prepared materials, while Principal Jiao Si replaced the original stakes with 300 million Odi. Chen Mu began crafting in front of the Card Crafters, whose skepticism gave way to surprise as they watched his unusual material-processing methods.

• A Card Crafter challenged Chen Mu to wager that he could not make a card with more than 850 damage, and Chen Mu asked what the stakes would be.
• The Card Crafter offered to leave Siyuan Academy and work for Chen Mu without pay if he lost, but Jiao Si changed the wager to 300 million Odi and compensation for Chen Mu's losses.
• Chen Mu agreed, and the group went to the card-crafting room, where Xi Ping had prepared the materials.
• Chen Mu instructed Ru Qiu to process the materials in unconventional ways, and the Card Crafters watched gamma enzyme reduce starpoint stone to purple sludge.
• After an hour, Ru Qiu finished making fragrant black card ink, and Chen Mu took out the Weak Water pen set to begin drawing on a blank card.
• A Card Crafter recognized Weak Water as a lost work by Kuo Haofeng, while Chen Mu ignored the commotion and focused on the card.

Chen Mu won a wager with the Card Crafters from Siyuan Academy by making a powerful card from ordinary materials, earning their respect and cooperation. As the Card Crafters began using his warehouse materials, fighting broke out between Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy in Luoyou City.

• Chen Mu quickly made a simplified version of his Digital Series Card 005 from the wager’s materials, and the Card Crafters praised his penwork but could not recognize its structural pattern.
• Jiao Si tested Chen Mu’s card at the training ground, and its damage value reached 902, proving Chen Mu had won the wager.
• Jiao Si praised Chen Mu, while the defeated Card Crafter was left shaken and the other Card Crafters became more cooperative.
• Chen Mu opened a warehouse of materials and let the Card Crafters make whichever cards they wanted instead of assigning them Four-Star Energy Cards.
• The first battle since the stalemate erupted between Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy in Luoyou City.

Luoyou City descended into chaos as Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy fought, while Chen Mu, Bagnell, and Jiao Si prepared to defend their base from the panicked crowd and an organized attack. Chen Mu recognized the energy signature of Yu Guo’s Aurora Beam and spotted its source just as Faya’s attack threatened the base.

• Card Adepts from both academies fought across Luoyou City, forcing civilians to flee amid widespread destruction.
• Bagnell ordered the base’s combat personnel into the Starfish Fortresses, and Jiao Si placed his Card Adepts under Bagnell’s command.
• The fleeing crowd reached the base’s trapped lawn, where explosions killed people at the front before the crowd’s advance slowed.
• Dozens of trained Card Adepts attacked the base, but its defenders quickly shot down eleven of them.
• About fifty Card Adepts used Wave Blade cards to clear a path through the lawn’s traps, while the crowd refused to follow and six attackers remained in the sky.
• A powerful energy surge arose from the crowd, and Chen Mu recognized it as Faya’s Yu Guo using Aurora Beam before locating the source.

Chen Mu wounded Yu Guo and killed the Card Adept shielding him with a rapid volley of accelerating Tail-Shedding Shuttles. As Yu Guo fled, Masked Madam and Xiao Man watched from the crowd and prepared to act on news from their allies.

• Chen Mu fired five Energy Shuttles in under 0.3 seconds, accelerating past the enemy Card Adepts’ attacks and shattering the shield of the one protecting Yu Guo.
• Chen Mu’s strike killed the shielding Card Adept and wounded Yu Guo, who abandoned his Aurora Ring Cannon and escaped into the crowd with his remaining companion.
• Bagnell and Jiao Si reacted with astonishment as they recognized Chen Mu’s exceptional ability as both a Card Adept and a Card Crafter.
• Xiao Man urged Masked Madam to retaliate, but Masked Madam said their base was too well defended and suggested others were also targeting it.
• Xiao Man’s Wrist Device sounded with news from the other side, and Masked Madam sat upright to hear the result.

Chen Mu and Bagnell watched Qiao Yuan arrive at their base with seventy-two elite Card Adepts from Zhongda Academy, then hurry on to aid Mi Xiaqing in Luoyou City. Their intervention turned the battle against the Federation Comprehensive Academy, while another battle was taking place elsewhere.

• After Chen Mu's group drove off the first attackers, Bagnell saw Qiao Yuan leading roughly seventy disheveled but exceptionally skilled Card Adepts toward the base.
• Qiao Yuan recognized Jiao Si, exchanged brief greetings with him, and then left to attend to urgent business involving Mi Xiaqing.
• Bagnell realized Qiao Yuan's group had crossed the Jungle to reach Luoyou City, bypassing routes controlled by the Federation Comprehensive Academy.
• Qiao Yuan and his men joined the fighting, boosted Zhongda Academy's morale, and swept through the Federation Comprehensive Academy's forces.
• Jiao Si predicted the Federation Comprehensive Academy would suffer, while the chapter ended with another battle quietly underway.

After Fatty was killed by Faya, Chen Mu decided to help avenge him, and Bagnell planned to expose Faya’s presence to Zhongda Academy. Chen Mu and Wei'a set out through the devastated Luoyou City toward Zhongda Academy’s base.

• Xi Ping told Chen Mu and Bagnell that Fatty had died, and Bagnell blamed Faya.
• Chen Mu asked how they could help, prompting Xi Ping to kowtow and Bagnell to promise he would build Chen Mu a powerful force.
• Bagnell analyzed the conflict among Zhongda Academy, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and Faya, then proposed revealing Faya’s presence to Zhongda Academy.
• Chen Mu and Wei'a left the base under cover of night to carry out the covert operation.
• Chen Mu reflected on Fatty’s friendship and the devastation in Luoyou City as he and Wei'a headed for Zhongda Academy’s base.

Chen Mu and Wei'a infiltrated Zhongda Academy's base through its drainage system to spy on a meeting. They reached a pipe beneath the conference room and listened as the voices above grew clearer.

• Chen Mu and Wei'a slipped past five scanning bands and approached the lit conference room using Xi Ping's architectural plans.
• Wei'a dug a hole through the warehouse wall, and Chen Mu opened the vent and planned an escape route.
• Chen Mu and Wei'a entered the drainage passage and traveled beneath the base without being detected.
• Wei'a helped Chen Mu climb the vertical pipe, and the two crept toward the conference room as the voices above grew clearer.

Chen Mu and Wei'a ambushed Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing, but the two Zhongda Academy disciples fought back with powerful techniques. The battle remained unresolved as Mi Xiaqing’s expanding rings cornered Chen Mu and Qiao Yuan’s attacks kept Wei'a under pressure.

• Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing discussed Lao Hao’s plan to seize the remaining passage entrance and suspected Faya was behind the attacks on their interception teams.
• Qiao Yuan revealed that Jiao Si was in Luoyou City with a remarkably young and capable student, though he did not realize Chen Mu was listening beneath the conference room.
• Chen Mu signaled Wei'a, and they burst through the floor to attack Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing.
• Chen Mu dodged Qiao Yuan’s red Energy Shuttles using movements he had learned during Arrowfish Training, while Wei'a closed in and shattered Qiao Yuan’s Energy Shield with a punch.
• Qiao Yuan’s Energy Shuttles forced Wei'a into a difficult defense, while Mi Xiaqing filled the room with expanding rings that left Chen Mu with nowhere to evade.
• Chen Mu hooked a chair with his toe and sent it toward Mi Xiaqing’s wall of light.

Chen Mu and Wei'a escaped Zhongda Academy's conference room through the sewer and fled through the ruins while Qiao Yuan led the pursuit. Chen Mu drew the pursuers into an estate, where Zhongda Academy's attacks provoked its defenders and left the confrontation unresolved.

• Chen Mu and Wei'a fled through the sewer as Zhongda Academy Card Adepts blasted the passage behind them.
• They escaped the Small Warehouse and raced through the ruins, dodging attacks from the Card Adepts pursuing them.
• Mi Xiaqing stayed behind to guard Ren Wenzhou and Qian Mingyi, while Qiao Yuan joined the chase and studied the two fugitives.
• Chen Mu used his Perception and their carefully planned route to evade the pursuing Card Adepts.
• Chen Mu charged into an estate, dodged its defenders' attacks, and redirected the energy constructs toward the pursuers.
• A Zhongda Academy Card Adept retaliated against the estate, and a scream sounded from inside.

Qiao Yuan's forces attacked a manor hiding a vast force of Card Adepts, and Qiao Yuan's intervention devastated its defenders. Madam received word that Uncle Peng was near Luoyou City and sent Yu Guo and Xiao Man to hold Qiao Yuan off while she led the others away.

• Qiao Yuan realized the manor's defenders were far more numerous than expected as his Zhongda Academy Card Adepts fought them and began suffering casualties.
• Qiao Yuan unleashed his red diamond-shaped shuttles, killing or wounding roughly seventy or eighty Card Adepts and crushing the manor's morale.
• Madam learned from Uncle Peng that he was almost at Luoyou City, then ordered Yu Guo and Xiao Man to delay Qiao Yuan while she left with the others.
• Xiao Man launched a formation of pale-blue Wave Blades at Qiao Yuan.

Xiao Man and Yu Guo challenged Qiao Yuan with Digital Series Card 013, revealing Faya’s role in the gathering. Xiao Man’s wave blades trapped Qiao Yuan as Yu Guo prepared a powerful follow-up attack, leaving their battle unresolved.

• Qiao Yuan countered Xiao Man’s wave-blade arrow with his Four-Corner Diamond, shattering the arrow apart.
• Xiao Man’s scattered wave blades regrouped and swarmed toward Qiao Yuan, revealing that she wielded 013.
• Zhongda Academy’s Card Adepts recognized the card and concluded that the manor’s forces belonged to Faya.
• Qiao Yuan realized Faya’s gathered forces were part of a scheme and shifted aside to evade Xiao Man’s attack.
• Xiao Man’s wave blades circled Qiao Yuan, while Yu Guo’s energy surged and unsettled the watching Card Adepts.
• Yu Guo swept both arms into a circle as the wave blades converged on Qiao Yuan in a blue streak.

Chen Mu watched Qiao Yuan effortlessly survive Xiao Man and Yu Guo’s combined attack, then recognized that Xiao Man was preparing a forbidden method that would greatly amplify her Perception at the cost of her life. The chapter ended with Chen Mu sensing that Xiao Man’s state was strangely familiar.

• Chen Mu judged that Xiao Man’s use of 013 favored ranged attacks and that Qiao Yuan would likely win.
• Yu Guo blasted Qiao Yuan with his Aurora Beam, but Qiao Yuan escaped the surrounding Wave Blades by striking twenty-five of them with diamond-shaped shuttles.
• Qiao Yuan criticized Xiao Man’s technique, while Yu Guo collapsed from exhaustion and Xiao Man resolved to continue fighting.
• Xiao Man began using the Limit Energy-Gathering Method, prompting Qiao Yuan and the nearby Card Adepts to recognize and fear the forbidden technique.
• Chen Mu watched Xiao Man’s energy rise and felt that her abnormal state was familiar.

Chen Mu and Wei'a escaped while Xiao Man fought Qiao Yuan, and Chen Mu formed a daring plan to raid the Federation Comprehensive Academy's base for the Golden-Spotted Soft Jelly Fungus. The chapter ended with Chen Mu knowing the location of the academy's last defensive position and preparing to act.

• Xiao Man used her Blue Wave Blades to block Qiao Yuan's Red Diamond Shuttles and formed a powerful blade by merging five Wave Blades.
• Chen Mu recognized Xiao Man's defensive formation as similar to his own 007 card and decided that the battle gave him and Wei'a a chance to escape.
• Chen Mu and Wei'a slipped away from the estate, then felt a new surge of energy erupt behind them as they reached safety.
• Chen Mu assessed the shifting balance of power in Luoyou City and proposed a surprise attack on the Federation Comprehensive Academy's base.
• Chen Mu told Wei'a that Zu Ning had the Golden-Spotted Soft Jelly Fungus he needed to free himself from the Green Threads, and Wei'a agreed to take it.
• Chen Mu recalled that Xi Ping's intelligence had revealed the location of the Federation Comprehensive Academy's last defensive position.