The Secret of Beast Taming Cards

"Meow~"

Early the next morning, Lin Qi was still asleep when he felt a sharp pain in his cheek.

He blearily opened his eyes to find the Wind Chime Cat's fluffy head in front of him. It was crouched on his chest, licking its paw. Clearly, it was behind the pain he had just felt.

"Wind Chime Cat, I've told you, your tongue has barbs on it. It hurts when you lick people!"

Lin Qi reached out and pushed the Wind Chime Cat's head away, but the little fellow wasn't afraid at all. Instead, it took the opportunity to burrow into his arms. Its weight of dozens of pounds knocked the breath out of him and nearly killed him.

"Cough, cough. Don't people always say having a cat makes you happy? Why has my happiness disappeared?"

Lin Qi sat up helplessly. With the Wind Chime Cat sprawled on his legs and refusing to leave, he could only circulate the Source Power in his body and feed it to the cat.

Beast Taming Cards had one advantage: if the owner truly couldn't afford to feed the card beast, they could channel Source Power into the card to nourish it. The card beast could fill its belly by absorbing that energy.

Only when his Source Power was exhausted did the Wind Chime Cat jump out of the card. It stretched lazily, its tail held high. Clearly, it had eaten and drunk its fill and was full of energy.

"You ate up all the Source Power I'd just recovered."

Lin Qi sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating Source Power while it was depleted.

After working hard all last night, he had fused a hundred Dust Star Card Iron Swords into twenty one-star card Mercenary's Sabers.

He had also fused ten one-star card Small Fireballs into two Exploding Fireball Magic Cards.

He didn't plan to sell those two Magic Cards, though. He intended to use them to replace Lin Feng's and Ruilian's secondary cards first.

Those two men's secondary cards were a sorry sight. Lin Feng's were a little better, since he had a green Skill Card, but the rest could only be described as white enough to glow.

That was the life of a card master. Once you set foot on that path, you had to spend the rest of your life desperately earning money.

Thanks to exhausting his Source Power whenever he fused cards during this period and cultivating dozens of times each day to recover it, Lin Qi, a One-Star Card Apprentice, had even more Source Power in reserve than a Two-Star Card Apprentice.

But a Card Apprentice was still a Card Apprentice. His Source Power recovered quickly, but he used it up even faster.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Lin Qi walked lazily downstairs, the Wind Chime Cat following behind him with its tail swaying.

Lin Feng came out of the kitchen carrying breakfast.

"Son, your Uncle Ruilian has already gone to spread the word in the mercenary group. I reckon people will come to our house to buy cards today. How are your preparations going?"

Lin Qi walked over to the dining table and pulled a stack of cards from his pocket.

"Twenty one-star Implement Card Mercenary's Sabers and two two-star Beast Taming Card Rock-Shattering Vicious Rats. That's all for now."

"Beast Taming Cards?"

Lin Feng's gaze was instantly drawn to the two Beast Taming Cards glowing green. He picked one up and examined it, his face full of shock.

He wasn't surprised that Lin Qi could make Summoning Cards and Implement Cards, but Beast Taming Cards were generally made by sealing a card beast egg into a card, or by sealing a living card beast directly. Lin Qi was only a One-Star Card Apprentice; there was no way he could have done that.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

With Lin Feng staring at him, Lin Qi felt a little uncomfortable.

"Nothing, nothing."

Lin Feng put away his shocked expression and the cards, then looked at Lin Qi seriously.

"Son, you've had a mind of your own since you were little, but I still have to warn you: never reveal your ability to make cards in front of anyone else. Especially how you make Beast Taming Cards. Otherwise, you're bound to attract trouble. Understand?"

Lin Qi looked at Lin Feng in surprise. He clearly hadn't expected his usually careless father to be so thoughtful this time.

"Don't worry, Dad. I know what I'm doing."

"You and Uncle Ruilian can have one of these Magic Cards each. Once the family business gets going, I'll replace the rest of your secondary cards too."

Looking at the two two-star Magic Cards in front of him, Lin Feng accepted them without hesitation.

"Meow."

By then, the Wind Chime Cat had jumped onto a stool and was patting the table with its paw.

"Uh."

Lin Feng looked at Lin Qi in bewilderment.

"Does it want to eat too?"

Lin Qi was a little surprised as well. He had always fed the Wind Chime Cat Source Power and had never given it human food before.

He nodded tentatively. "Probably. Why don't you let it try some?"

Still doubtful, Lin Feng pushed the rice porridge in front of him over to the Wind Chime Cat. To his surprise, the cat really did lower its head and start eating in small mouthfuls, as gracefully as a noble, without the slightest mess.

"Well, would you look at that. It's my first time seeing a card beast eat so elegantly."

Lin Feng watched in amazement and explained to Lin Qi as he watched:

"We used to have a brother in our mercenary group who had a one-star Beast Taming Card, a Vicious Wolfhound. That thing was vicious, all right. It ate anything: bones, raw meat, even corpses on the battlefield!

"But a card beast like that can't be tamed. Once, on a mission, that brother got a little hurt, and the Vicious Wolfhound suddenly turned on its master and nearly ate him. In the end, we all had to work together to kill it."

Lin Qi nearly spat out the porridge in his mouth. "Beast Taming Cards eat people too?" he asked in shock.

Lin Feng nodded, his expression growing somewhat grave.

"Of course! That's also why I bought you the Wind Chime Cat in the first place. Wind Chime Cats are gentle and friendly toward humans, and they hardly ever turn on their masters. Unlike some card beasts, which are naturally wild and hard to tame. Even after they're sealed into cards, they might still turn on their owners."

He picked up the Rock-Shattering Vicious Rat Beast Taming Card from the table and pointed to the vicious-looking rat beast on its face.

"Look at this Rock-Shattering Vicious Rat. You can tell just from its looks that it's trouble. It's strong in battle, but it's definitely fiercer than the Wind Chime Cat. Let me teach you another couple of tricks for judging card beasts."

Lin Qi blinked curiously. "What tricks?"

Lin Feng didn't keep him guessing. "You judge them by their names. Generally, card beasts with words like 'vicious' or 'evil' in their names definitely aren't docile."

"I see..."

Understanding dawned on Lin Qi, but then his heart tightened. "Can we still sell these two Rock-Shattering Vicious Rat Beast Taming Cards, then?"

If they couldn't sell them and he couldn't use them himself, wouldn't they have gone to waste?

Lin Feng's lips curled into a wicked smile.

"Don't worry. Unless they've been through something like that, most people don't know that some card beasts turn on their masters. I'll definitely get you a high price for these two Beast Taming Cards."

Lin Qi stared at him in disbelief. "Dad, isn't that putting people in harm's way?"

"Putting people in harm's way?"

"What did I do? I'm just a merchant."

"Besides, weren't you the one who said there's no business without deceit?"

Lin Qi shook his head. "I said two things: 'There's no business without deceit' and 'Honesty comes first.' How come you only remembered one?"

"Hahaha, they're more or less the same. I've spent all these years in the mercenary group, and I've only seen it happen that once. As long as their masters treat them well, most card beasts won't turn on them. So you can rest easy!"

"Meow~"

While the two of them were talking, the Wind Chime Cat had finished the food on its plate and was licking its paw as if savoring the taste.

Looking at how cute it was, Lin Qi murmured to himself, Beast Taming Cards aren't just cards. They're living beings, too.