Thirteen Divine Pathways

Not long after, it was exactly nine o'clock.

A middle-aged man in the white robes of a Hunter's Guild steward arrived with a burly man dressed in hunter gear.

The two entered the conference room.

The white-robed steward immediately introduced the burly man beside him. "Today's lecturer is Mr. Bernie 'Greatsword,' an honorary steward of the guild, vice captain of the Storm Hunter Group, and a Second Rank Spell Card Master. Please welcome him!"

A round of thunderous applause immediately erupted through the spacious hall.

The burly man did not waste any words and began explaining right away.

"Some of you may have heard of this before, while others may not know it or may not know it clearly. So today, I'll explain everything in detail."

"Spell Card Masters have Thirteen Divine Pathways: A-Courage, 2-Fall, 3-Healing, 4-Mystery, 5-Wisdom, 6-Order, 7-Art, 8-Element, 9-Destruction, 10-Miracle, J-War, Q-Love, and K-Kingship."

"Each pathway points toward a world Rule Power capable of condensing divinity!"

"And each of the Thirteen Divine Pathways has four Professional Sequences to choose from. These are what we commonly call the fifty-two Professional Sequences."

"For example, the Ace sword card corresponds to four career advancement paths: Ace of Spades—Black Knight, Ace of Hearts—Warrior of Light, Ace of Spades—Fighter, and Ace of Diamonds—Samurai. Sequence 2 likewise corresponds to Two of Spades—Thief, Heart 2—Ranger, Two of Clubs—Assassin, and 2 of Diamonds—Swindler."

"Although the four professional sequences of Ace sword cards all belong to the same 'Courage' pathway, their specialized directions differ, the Demon Gods they point to differ, and their combat styles differ as well. Black Knights follow the path of dark heavy-armored guardians, Warriors of Light focus on Flesh Growth, Fighters are natural Qi Gong Masters and masters of technique, while Samurai are Weapon Masters."

"Once you reach the ninth stage of spell power, you will face your career choice. Only then can you break through your body's limits again and see your combat strength soar. For hunters like us, if you want to choose a career advancement sequence, A-Courage, 2-Fall, and 3-Healing are absolutely the best choices."

"..."

What Bernie "Greatsword" taught was all very basic knowledge, but Ji Xun listened with great care.

Only at this moment did he gain a detailed understanding of the cultivation system in this world of Spell Card Masters.

So that's how it works.

And it was quite a coincidence—when arranged together, all Spell Card Master professions formed a deck of fifty-two Poker Cards.

The more he learned about the Spell Card Master system, the more it gave him a sense of profundity, vastness, weight, ancient mystery.

The end of the sequences could lead to godhood?

Ji Xun listened even more attentively.

Even from this rudimentary knowledge alone, he felt his own insignificance and grew increasingly reverent.

Bernie only focused on the first three sequences. Ji Xun understood them as follows:

A was warriors;

2 was assassins;

3 was healers.

The reason only these three were emphasized was that they had the lowest threshold for ordinary people, required the most common Demon Marks, and had the easiest-to-find Professional Materials.

Those who attended these free lessons were generally lower-class people from Sinless City, so the words were practical enough.

As Ji Xun listened, he carefully considered which career path would suit him best in the future.

Now, it seemed that with the Demon Feast talent, his physical attributes would become extremely powerful in the future.

In other words, all four warrior profession directions under "A-Courage" seemed rather compatible with him.

JOKER had a passive talent that meant his job changes were unrestricted by sequence. In other words, he could become an assassin, a healer, or even other professions later on without any problem.

As he pondered this question, Bernie "Greatsword" also began speaking about Demon Marks. "However, before choosing a Professional Sequence, the most important thing is fusing with a 'Demon Mark.' Only after fusing with a mark and gaining a Demon God's recognition can we be considered Transcendents."

Looking at the crowd below the stage, he said, "Among you are apprentice hunters who have already fused with Demon Marks. I imagine you've experienced the boost marks provide to physical growth. The fifty-two Demon Marks point to Fifty-Two Demon Gods. Every Demon God has unique abilities. Finding a compatible mark and gaining a Demon God's recognition will be the greatest support of your lives."

As soon as he said that,

the teenagers below who had fused with marks all wore proud expressions, unable to conceal their delight.

Transcendents and ordinary people were fundamentally different.

Ji Xun looked at his physical stats, each averaging over 3, and deeply understood that now.

Those who had not fused with any mark were filled with envy.

Bernie continued, "Generally speaking, the Professional Sequence corresponding to a mark has the highest compatibility with a Card Master. For instance, Mark of Ace of Spades points to the great Demon God Eliog. The demonic laws He commands grant people powerful physiques and resistance to attacks. If you fuse with this mark, your compatibility with the Black Knight Professional Sequence will be extremely high. Of course, the original fifty-two Professional Sequences were created to match the power of the Fifty-Two Demon Gods. Only after countless improvements by our predecessors did the Spell Card Master system become what it is today."

As soon as he said that, someone immediately asked, "Mr. Bernie, does that mean once a Spell Card Master chooses a Professional Sequence, they can never change it? For example, if we are Black Knights at First Rank, must we also fuse with the Black Knight's subsequent advancement cards at Second Rank?"

"No, of course not."

Bernie smiled and shook his head. "Some sequences can interconnect once they reach higher ranks. For example, Ace of Spades—Black Knight and Spade 4—Beastwalker, which both possess dark growth talents, can interconnect. But that is advanced knowledge. It is difficult to understand unless you are a Spell Card Master, so we won't discuss it further today."

Ji Xun silently listened to the exchange, and it resolved many of his doubts.

Fifty-Two Demon Gods corresponded to fifty-two Professional Sequences.

Each Professional Sequence had First Rank, Second Rank, Third Rank, and other subsequent exclusive advancement cards.

Although there seemed to be only fifty-two professions, there would actually be countless variations.

For example, Ace of Spades—Black Knight developed into a dark heavy-armored warrior. That was a fixed formula. But because the materials each person found to craft their Job Change Card varied in quality, they could become Ghost Knights, Plague Knights, or Hellfire Knights—all Flesh Growth directions of the dark element.

Theoretically, every Spell Card Master was unique.

Even if they were both First Rank Black Knights, no two Spell Card Masters in the world had exactly the same abilities.

And with certain Professional Sequences able to interconnect and shift between one another, countless profession combinations could be formed.

"Teacher Bernie, are later sequences stronger? For example, the 'Empress card Q' and the 'King card K'?"

"No! That is a misunderstanding many people have. There is no strongest sequence, only the strongest Spell Card Master. Among the legendary powerhouses whose names have been recorded in history, almost every sequence has produced one. For example, the Federal legendary powerhouse from twenty years ago, 'Silver-Eyed Lion' Kamon, was a peak powerhouse of the Ace of Spades—Fighter sequence. The current legendary king of thieves, 'Night Shadow' Kuntu, also originally advanced through the Two of Spades—Thief sequence. Neither of them belonged to so-called high sequences."

"However, if conditions allow, you should choose higher-quality Demon Marks to awaken your extraordinary power."

"For example, an ordinary-quality Mark of Ace of Spades generally grants growth in physique, toughness, strength, and Dark Affinity. Yet though it points to the same powerful Demon God Eliog, a Black Iron Quality mark will have more than 10% greater growth attributes overall. Silver Quality is even stronger. This gap will only snowball in the later stages. Therefore, if you can find a high-quality Demon Mark, fuse with the highest quality one possible. Of the two legendary powerhouses I just mentioned, one fused with a Gold Quality mark, while the other fused with an extremely rare Legendary Mark."

"Wow!"

At those words, the hundreds of young eyes present filled with admiration for the strong and yearning for the future.

Gold Quality, Legendary Quality.

To lower-class people in Sinless City, such things only existed in legendary stories. Whenever they heard others speak of them, their blood would boil.

Yet no matter how distant they were, they could not extinguish every young person's dream of becoming a legend.

"Mr. Bernie, if—if we could, how would we obtain rare marks?"

"Challenge high-difficulty Alternate Dimensions! Slay rare calamities, or obtain a B-rank or higher clearance evaluation. Only then might you obtain mark cards of Black Iron Quality or above. For example, you should have heard of the Anomaly 407 Containment Facility recently. That dimension produced a precious Silver Mark Card."

"So that's how it is."

"Ah, I want to become a hunter and explore ruins right away! If I could find a Silver Mark too, I'd be set for life."

"I don't have such high expectations. I'd be satisfied with a Black Iron mark. Hahaha."

"..."

With that, the group of teenagers grew excited as well.

Bernie spoke at just the right moment, smiling as he said, "So this is the importance of a team. If you join a Hunter Group, the team will specifically obtain the materials you need. There will also be plenty of free intelligence to let everyone know where to obtain the marks they need. Even when you later choose to become a Spell Card Master, the Hunter's Guild possesses the most numerous and complete advancement sequences in Sinless City."

Hearing this, Ji Xun immediately understood the essence of this "free lesson."

It was like sales pitches in his previous life. While teaching you some knowledge, they also had to gain something in return.

The Hunter's Guild had invited the vice captain of a large Hunter Group to lecture. Naturally, Mr. Bernie was here to recruit talented new blood for his own team.

But signing a contract with one of the major Hunter Groups was equivalent to becoming a long-term hired hand.

It was not necessarily bad, but there was much less freedom, along with certain mandatory missions.

And large guilds needed to ensure the team's development, so they would take a cut from certain missions and gains.

Normally, that would be ten to twenty percent of the earnings.

This was why many people felt they were being exploited for nothing and could not accept it.

But from another perspective, Alternate Dimensions that individuals could not clear might be cleared by elite teams, resulting in even greater gains.

Furthermore, sharing internal resources and intelligence could help ordinary hunters avoid many detours.

As for the trade-off, that depended on individual needs.

Bernie on the stage continued by speaking about Breathing Techniques.

"Besides Demon Marks, the most important thing for Card Master Apprentices is Breathing Techniques. A good Breathing Technique can multiply the efficiency of spell power cultivation."

"We can compare spell power to water. A Breathing Technique does not merely replenish water in the body; it also shapes the vat that holds the water. The higher the quality of the Breathing Technique, the larger and sturdier the vat, the more water it can hold, and the faster it can be filled."

"Of course, for ordinary hunters, high-quality Breathing Techniques are almost exclusively accessible through large Hunter Groups. If you want to buy one, a Black Iron Quality Breathing Technique might cost several years of factory wages without eating or drinking."

"And rare Breathing Techniques are even more difficult to obtain. Take our Storm Hunter Group's Storm Breathing Technique, for example. It is a Silver Quality wind-element Breathing Technique worth at least a million. It cannot be bought on the market at all. We certainly will not sell it. But if you join our Storm Hunter Group, you will immediately receive a compatible basic Breathing Technique. With sufficient contributions later, you can obtain the Silver Breathing Method for free."

"..."

Once again, he taught knowledge while advertising the Storm Hunter Group.

As soon as he said that, the entire conference room became lively.

There were so many benefits to joining a Hunter Group that the young hunters were already eager to do so.

Ji Xun, however, remained unmoved.

Still, after hearing those words, he finally understood how the quality of Breathing Techniques was categorized.

After attending the lesson, he became even more eager to switch to another Breathing Technique.

The later he trained, the more he would lose out.

The spell power that a Silver Breathing Method could cultivate in ten days might take an entire month with an ordinary Breathing Technique.

That was the difference in Breathing Technique quality.

After the lesson ended, Ji Xun planned to visit the market carefully. While broadening his horizons, he might also come across something suitable for himself.

He would also ask around about whether there was the kind of Breathing Technique he had imagined—one capable of absorbing several more elements.

Thanks to 'GT Wanlihong' for the tip.