"Boom, boom, boom, boom!" A string of deafening explosions erupted. Countless streaks of Red-Light Flame splashed outward, sparks bursting in every direction. The Black-Furred Ape's entire backside was blasted open, and its intestines, blood, and flesh rained down.
"Whoosh!" As though he had anticipated this, Wang Yan darted away, scrambling and rolling clear of the falling flesh. Blood and flesh were nothing to fear; he merely had to dodge them. But that was the Black-Furred Ape's belly, with plenty of shit, urine, and intestines inside. Getting any of that on him would be disgusting.
"Thud!" Wang Yan stumbled straight into a tree several yards away. Apparently drained of strength, he fell onto his backside... and gasped for breath.
"Wow! You little brat! I'm liking you more and more!" Card Fairy called to Wang Yan, sounding excited. "I'm taking back what I said before!"
"What did you say?" Wang Yan hurriedly asked, watching the Black-Furred Ape continue to struggle. With its intestines spilling out, however, it clearly would not live much longer. Although the Black-Furred Ape was not particularly fast, its thick hide and tough flesh gave it formidable defenses. Fireball Spells hitting its body directly had only caused it pain. Its backside was its weakest point, but the beast was far from stupid and constantly guarded it, giving Wang Yan no opening. That was why he had devised this trap to suspend it in the air and give himself a chance to attack its backside. At last, he had succeeded...
"I think you're better suited to cultivating with this Immortal Card Artifact of mine! That Wang Ziling fellow might have good talent, but you have one tremendous advantage!" Card Fairy said.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Wang Yan asked, puzzled. Over the past few days, the deeper he ventured into the forest, the stronger the Demon Beasts he encountered became. Yet the more he fought, the more excited he grew. He had already slain seven or eight Demon Beasts, although they had all been in the Cultivation Realm. Card Fairy's sudden remark struck him as rather strange.
"You understand your own strengths and weaknesses very well, and you know how to make use of your advantages!" Card Fairy said.
"Hm? Isn't that only natural? Using your weaknesses against an enemy's strengths would just be asking for misery, wouldn't it?" Wang Yan asked in confusion, as though this were perfectly obvious. He paused, then hurriedly added, "It's all thanks to this Fireball Spell Immortal Card that I can kill these Cultivation Realm Demon Beasts!"
However!
The main reason Wang Yan could successfully trap so many Demon Beasts and finish them off in relatively easy battles was this Fireball Spell Immortal Card. Its attacks were powerful, equivalent to an all-out strike from someone at Minor Completion of the Cultivation Realm. It could also fire successive attacks, releasing as many as four Fireball Spells in a row. That made its power truly astonishing.
More importantly, releasing a Fireball Spell this way was faster and more accurate than using a talisman. Naturally, it was even faster than a cultivator casting it personally. An ordinary Cultivation Realm cultivator needed at least one or two breaths to chant and form hand seals for a Fireball Spell, whereas the Immortal Card released it almost instantly. That was extraordinarily impressive.
Consider this: when the Black-Furred Ape charged after him and was hoisted up by the trap, the whole process took only one or two breaths. If Wang Yan had needed to chant and form hand seals before releasing his Fireball Spell, it would have taken at least two or three breaths. By then, the Black-Furred Ape would already have escaped. Besides, even a cultivator at Minor Completion of the Cultivation Realm could not release four Fireball Spells of such size in succession.
It was precisely because he possessed an Immortal Card like this that Wang Yan could so boldly and easily set traps for those Demon Beasts.
The only rather troublesome part was that, once the Immortal Card's magical power ran out, Wang Yan needed more than a day to fully replenish the Fireball Spell Immortal Card. That took quite a lot of time.
Hearing this,
"Of course! Now you understand how impressive my Immortal Cards are, don't you?" Card Fairy replied smugly, her voice brimming with delight. Inwardly, she praised him. From observing him over this period, this boy is bold yet meticulous, and exceptionally good at using the power he possesses in battle. He fits exactly what I had in mind when I developed the Immortal Card Artifact: continually combining the characteristics of each Immortal Card to create tremendous combat strength. Even I couldn't accomplish that back then, yet this boy seems to have an innate instinct for it. Although the Fireball Spell Immortal Card has helped him a great deal, and sometimes he could kill a Demon Beast more easily by using an Immortal Card's Divine Ability directly, he chooses methods that require more thought but conserve magical power and are safer! Perhaps I developed the Immortal Card Artifact, but this boy is the one best suited to using it!
"Absolutely!" Wang Yan answered sincerely, unaware of how pleased Card Fairy now was with him. He quickly lowered the Black-Furred Ape's body. Although this Demon Beast was only at Minor Completion of the Cultivation Realm, it possessed immense natural strength, thick hide, and tough flesh. Both its defenses and strength were astonishing. Had its backside not been comparatively vulnerable, Wang Yan would have had quite a hard time taking it down. By the same token, however, its hide was excellent material for crafting armor.
Before long, Wang Yan took out a Bone Blade and began butchering the entire Black-Furred Ape. Its hide was not something he could cut apart with his bare hands at his current level. The Bone Blade had been made from the hardest bone he had removed from another Demon Beast, and after some grinding, it had become extremely sharp.
"Oh, right! Card Fairy!" While cutting apart the Black-Furred Ape's body, Wang Yan seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked her, "You said you'd teach me artifact crafting. When are you going to teach me?"
"Hm? Artifact crafting?" Card Fairy said. After a moment of silent thought, she continued, "Sure. You can start by refining simple materials. Try the bone in your hand and this ape's tendons!"
"Great!" Wang Yan replied happily. Although he had little talent for artifact crafting, he felt that Card Fairy was no ordinary cultivator. Even a mediocrity like him had advanced to Minor Completion of the Cultivation Realm in just over a month after she gave him some guidance on his fire spells. Artifact crafting ought not to be too difficult either...
It took Wang Yan more than two full hours to finish butchering the thick-skinned Black-Furred Ape. Carrying a large pile of hides and materials on his back, he left...
Inside a cave, Wang Yan lit a campfire in front of himself.
Wisps of Red-Light Flame streamed from Wang Yan's hands. His expression was solemn as he controlled the flames, heating a piece of black hide no larger than his palm. The flames continually scorched its surface, but rather than catching fire, the hide slowly softened. Its originally heavy stench of blood rapidly faded...
But.
Suddenly!
"Whoosh!" Black smoke rose, and the black hide actually caught fire. Flames burst out and scattered in every direction. The whole piece burned, turning to ashes in moments and leaving Wang Yan looking grim. A heap of pitch-black ashes already lay beneath him; clearly, he had failed an unknown number of times.
"Ah! You failed again?" Card Fairy's voice rang out in Wang Yan's mind at precisely the wrong moment. She paused, then teased him, "Tsk, tsk! I thought you were a piece of rotten wood, but it turns out you're even worse than rotten wood!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'm rotten wood. But I've only been practicing for one evening, all right?" Wang Yan replied, annoyed and dispirited. Even so, he picked up another piece of black hide...
"Haha! Don't worry. Even if you're a piece of rotten wood, under the guidance of the wise and mighty Card Fairy, you can still be carved into a treasure!" Card Fairy laughed. She really was shameless enough.
"Then may I ask the wise and mighty Card Fairy exactly where my problem lies?" Having spent some time with her, Wang Yan had come to understand her personality, and he promptly asked. In truth, he enjoyed this sort of exchange. During his years in the Wang Household, he had made few friends, mainly because of the friction between disciples from outside the clan and those of the main family. Previously, she had been the only one who got along with him, but now...
"You don't have enough magical power, your control over it isn't precise enough, and your state of mind is somewhat restless!" Card Fairy answered casually.
"Then what can I do about it?" Wang Yan hurriedly asked.
"One word: keep practicing!" Card Fairy said.
"Uh...!" Wang Yan's expression stiffened. Suddenly, the flames in his hands flared, and another piece of black hide instantly turned to ashes. He could not help complaining, "Hey! That's two words, all right?"
"See? You're just too restless!" Card Fairy tossed out that remark...
"...!" Wang Yan was speechless. Silently, he picked up another piece of black hide and continued refining it. If he really started arguing with Card Fairy, there would be no end to it. She was a textbook chatterbox...
Still, Wang Yan was rather taken aback. This black hide was Demon Beast skin stripped from the Black-Furred Ape and cut into pieces for practice. It was worth more than a dozen spirit stones. He had nearly used it all up without successfully refining even one piece into usable material. That showed just how much material artifact crafting consumed, even with a mysterious figure like Card Fairy guiding him...
If nothing else, since Card Fairy had developed the Immortal Card Artifact, she surely surpassed even the Artifact Refiners of certain major sects. Yet he had still not succeeded with a single piece. Naturally, the process consumed a great deal of material.
Although she had been partly joking, Wang Yan understood what Card Fairy meant. It seemed his mind was not steady enough and was still somewhat restless. He settled his mind and stopped paying attention to her distractions...
However.
When Card Fairy stopped distracting him, something else disturbed Wang Yan instead.
Just as Wang Yan felt that he had nearly exhausted his magical power,
Suddenly.
"Crack, crack, crack!" A series of startling sounds came from the distant forest.
Then.
"Roar!" A Demon Beast's furious cry shook heaven and earth. The sound was utterly terrifying, and its dreadful roar echoed throughout the mountain forest...
"What's going on?" Wang Yan reacted at once. Two or three successfully refined beast hides already lay in front of him. He hurriedly extinguished the campfire and rushed toward the cave entrance.
Before you continue