The Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion

"Meow~"

"Meow!"

Lin Feng cleaned his wounds and changed his clothes before heading home. But as soon as he reached the door, he heard a chorus of meows coming from inside. He recognized Lin Qi's voice at once.

"Son, what are you doing?"

Lin Qi was squatting beside the table, leaning close to the Wind Chime Cat's ear and imitating its meows with a serious expression. The cat tilted its head, the illusory bell on its tail swaying gently, as if it were coaching his pronunciation.

"Oh, I'm bonding with the Wind Chime Cat.

"The books say that the stronger the bond between a Card Master and a card beast, the more of its strength the card beast can unleash. Eventually, they can even reach a state where their minds are in sync. Then it'll know what I want without me having to give it orders."

Lin Feng pursed his lips as he tied on an apron and prepared to cook.

"Don't listen to that nonsense in books. It's all meant to fool children.

"Raising beasts is the biggest waste of time there is.

"Think about it. A Card Master works hard to care for a card beast, feeds it special food every day, plays with it, and grooms its fur. On top of all that wasted effort, they have to scrimp and save to buy resources.

"When it's time to fight, they don't dare send the card beast to the front, for fear it'll get killed. Once it dies, the Beast Taming Card is ruined, and everything they put into it goes down the drain."

Lin Qi shook his head helplessly and stood up, giving the Wind Chime Cat a pat on the head. The cat rubbed contentedly against his palm.

"Dad, don't use the people in your mercenary group as examples. At best, their card beasts are green quality. They haven't grown at all.

"I read about a Card Master whose card beast was a giant dragon. He became a dragon knight and beat every Card Master at the same realm who came at him. He was unbeatable at his level!"

"What's so special about a giant dragon?"

Lin Feng retorted, unwilling to concede, as his cleaver thudded against the meat.

"We've had some powerful people with Implement Cards too! There was a sword saint whose natal card was a Dragon-Slaying Sword. People called him the Dragon-Slaying Knight. He specialized in killing giant dragons, and he was incredibly powerful!"

Lin Qi couldn't help laughing at how seriously his father was taking it.

"All right, all right, Implement Cards are powerful. But you're right about something else, Dad. An ordinary family like ours really can't afford to raise a powerful card beast. If someone gave me a giant dragon, even everything in Stone Iron City wouldn't be enough to feed it for more than a few meals. Summoning cards are more practical."

While father and son bantered, Lin Feng had quickly finished cooking. He brought out six dishes and a soup, including stir-fried dried card beast meat, bone soup, and fresh greens. The aroma filled the air.

Lin Qi picked up his chopsticks, but after only a couple of bites, he remembered what he needed to discuss.

"Dad, after dinner, I want to go to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion and buy some Dust Star Cards."

"Dust Star Cards?"

Lin Feng paused with his chopsticks over the food and looked at him in confusion.

"What do you want those for? Dust Star Cards are mostly useless junk. You've broken through to become a one-star card apprentice now. If you're buying cards, you should at least get two-star ones."

"Uh..."

Lin Qi thought it over and decided it would be better not to tell him too much for now.

"Oh, I just want to look around. If there's a suitable card, I'll buy one to test the waters and get familiar with the different kinds."

Lin Feng didn't think much of it and nodded. "All right. You've had a mind of your own since you were little, and you know what you're doing. Now that you're a one-star card apprentice, if the cardmaster academy starts recruiting in a while, you should give it a try. Learning properly at an academy would be better than fumbling around at home. As for the family shop, your Uncle Ruilian and I are looking after it. We'll definitely make it bigger and stronger!"

"No, no, no, Dad, just keep things as they are. Please don't go making decisions on your own."

Lin Qi hurriedly waved his hands to stop him.

Back then, he had gone through all the trouble of teaching Lin Feng, an idiot with practically zero business sense, until he could finally manage things on his own.

But managing things on his own was truly all he could do.

Business was like a battlefield, with enemies attacking from every direction. Lin Feng couldn't handle that.

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and chuckled without arguing. He knew business wasn't his strong suit. He could only keep the shop running thanks to the methods Lin Qi had taught him.

"I'm done eating."

Lin Qi put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth.

Lin Feng pulled a purple card from his pocket and handed it over.

"Here, take this. Cards at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion aren't cheap, so don't be afraid to spend."

Lin Qi took the source crystal card and saw that it held ninety thousand ka'en. He froze.

"Dad, I'm just going to look around. You don't have to give me all the ka'en, do you? We still need money to restock the shop."

Lin Feng patted him on the shoulder, his voice full of trust.

"Before, you were too weak to truss a chicken. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to protect the money. Now you're a one-star card apprentice, so I can feel at ease giving it to you."

Seeing that Lin Qi was still hesitating, he added, "We can always earn more money. Nothing matters more than you getting stronger."

"Is that so?"

Although he thought Lin Feng was acting strangely, Lin Qi accepted the stored-value card.

After leaving home, Lin Qi eagerly headed toward the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion in the city center.

"White one-star cards cost between 100 and 1,000 ka'en. Summoning cards are around 300..."

As a businessman, Lin Qi spent the journey working out how to use his fusion card to make money.

Take the most basic Implement Card, the iron sword, for example.

A Dust Star Card iron sword was worth 10 ka'en, but a one-star equipment card cost 200 ka'en—twenty times as much!

Based on his experience fusing Skeleton Foot Soldiers, it should take only four or five iron swords to upgrade one to a one-star card.

By that calculation, if he sold the fused card, he could make 150 ka'en after deducting the cost!

And that was just for the most basic Implement Card.

If he collected enough one-star cards and fused them into two-star cards to sell, he could make several thousand ka'en on each one.

"I hope my guess is right..."

Filled with excitement, Lin Qi finally arrived at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion.

As the only card shop in Stone Iron City, the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion had an impressive facade.

It had red walls, golden roof tiles, and a huge sign hanging over the entrance. A steady stream of people came and went: richly dressed scions, Card Masters in fitted combat attire, and ordinary card apprentices like him.

The hall was spacious and bright, with several card-selling windows. A crowd gathered in front of each one, while uniformed staff stood nearby to guide customers.

As soon as Lin Qi entered the hall, a woman in a pink dress came up to him with a smile.

"Handsome young man, would you like a card guide? I'm a professional card appraiser. I can recommend the cards best suited to your strength and guarantee they'll be worth more than you pay."

A card guide, plainly put, helped customers decide which cards were suitable for them to buy. It was a profession in its own right, known as card appraisal.

After all, there were too many kinds of cards. Some Card Masters really didn't know how to put together a suitable set, and the cards they bought often did little to improve their strength.

That was also why Beast Taming Cards had always been so expensive.

Beast Taming Cards were the simplest and most straightforward. You didn't have to consider what your natal card was; once you bought one and summoned the beast, you had another fighting partner.

"No thanks. I'll look around on my own."

Lin Qi politely declined the card guide and headed straight for a window.

"Welcome. What type of card would you like to buy?"

"I'd like to look at the Dust Star Card catalog," Lin Qi said.

The smile on the card seller's face stiffened.

Dust Star Cards brought in little profit, and few people bought them. Most buyers were ordinary people hoping to find a bargain. Someone as neatly dressed as Lin Qi, who looked like a proper card apprentice, rarely bought them.

Even so, he quickly took a thick catalog from a drawer and handed it over. "Take your time, sir. Call me if you need anything."

Dust Star Cards were, as their name suggested, like fragments of stars.

If a Skeleton Foot Soldier was a complete one-star card, then a Dust Star Card might be a bone or a fragment of armor from one.

These cards were a mixed assortment. Some Dust Star Cards could be used as materials to advance other cards, while others were completely useless.

But that required a discerning eye. After all, treasures could be found even in a pile of junk.

It was said that the Rose Count's Heart of the Rose had originally been discovered among a pile of Dust Star Cards.

Lin Qi leafed through the book.

"Ninety-nine roses, created by a cardmaker who infused them with deep affection. Price: 100 ka'en."

"An ordinary iron sword. Ordinary though it may be, it can be used without source power, making it an indispensable companion for a long journey. Price: 10 ka'en."

"The king's new clothes. A card painstakingly created by a master cardmaker, combining astronomy, geography, philosophy, and culture. It's said that only intelligent people can use it. Price: 10 ka'en.

"Isn't this a scam? What intelligent person would buy this?"

"A whip..."

"A bone..."

"A chess set..."

Lin Qi quickly lost interest as he flipped through the catalog. Of these Dust Star Cards, only things like the iron sword and bone were of any use. The rest were all junk.

Lin Qi closed the catalog and said to the card seller, "I'll buy ten iron swords. And how many of these bone Dust Star Cards do you have in stock?"

The card seller quickly took ten cards from behind the counter and handed them over.

"Sir, we have plenty of iron sword cards in stock, but there's only one bone Dust Star Card left. If you buy twenty more iron swords, I can give you the bone Dust Star Card for free as a promotional offer."

Lin Qi did some quick calculations.

A complete cow skeleton costs about thirty ka'en and can be fused into a Skeleton Minion Summoning Card. A Skeleton Minion Summoning Card costs three hundred ka'en, so fusing one would save two hundred and seventy ka'en.

His eyes darted around as he came up with another idea. He said to the card seller, "How about this? I'll buy ten one-star Skeleton Minion Summoning Cards, and you throw in these ten iron sword Dust Star Cards and the bone Dust Star Card for free. What do you say?"

The card seller was taken aback.

He had thought this would be a small deal worth only three hundred ka'en, but it had suddenly grown tenfold. Ten Skeleton Minion Summoning Cards—that was a big order worth three thousand ka'en!