Frenzied Card Fusion

After carefully wrapping the Wind Chime Cat's injured paw in clean gauze, Lin Qi looked up at Lin Feng.

"Dad, give me all your Secondary Cards."

Lin Feng did not hesitate. Ever since Lin Qi had brought out those Implement Cards, he had been completely convinced of his son's abilities.

He raised a hand and waved it. Four streaks of light drifted from his fingertips and landed on the table, turning into four cards. Two glowed faintly green, while the other two were ordinary white cards. They were all the Secondary Cards he had contracted.

"I'll go upstairs and make you some new Secondary Cards. Could you get Wind Chime some meat?"

Lin Qi put the four cards away and rubbed the Wind Chime Cat's chin as he stood. The little creature narrowed its eyes in pleasure and purred contentedly.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of this little one."

"Meow~" The Wind Chime Cat looked up at Lin Qi and gently brushed its tail against his trouser leg, as if cheering him on.

Lin Qi hurried upstairs and closed the door firmly behind him.

He laid the four cards out on the table one by one.

His gaze first fell on the green Skill Card, Facing-the-Wind Single Saber Slash.

Lin Feng had risked his life to seize this card from a band of ruthless bandits back when he was in the mercenary company. Not only was it two-star quality, but it also came with a unique wind-cleaving effect. Even on the shelves of the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, there wasn't another one exactly like it.

"Whether this works is up to you."

Lin Qi took a deep breath and pulled five white Skill Cards, Slash, from the wooden box.

This was the most basic type of saber-and-sword Skill Card, yet it already sold for a thousand Ka'en apiece, comparable to the price of the best white-quality Beast Taming Cards.

Skill Cards could directly increase the power of Natal Cards and had always been scarce and in high demand. The better they matched a Natal Card, the stronger their effect, and their prices were outrageously high.

"Fuse!"

A black vortex instantly formed in the center of the table.

The five white cards were slowly swallowed by the vortex. Light flowed, and a new card emerged, glowing green.

Skill Card: Powerful Slash

Star level: two

Quality: green

Card description: unleash a powerful slash. The slash's effect decreases with distance.

Evaluation: a good skill pairing for Implement Card Masters.

Without pausing, he took out five more one-star Skill Cards, Sword Edge, and fed them into the vortex.

This time, the vortex spun faster. A moment later, a second green card quietly took shape.

Skill Card: Sharp Edge

Star level: two

Quality: green

Evaluation: one of the best pairings for swordsmen and archers. Its sharp edge is fully revealed, sweeping aside everything in its path.

One, two, three... Green light rose and fell throughout the room. Lin Qi only stopped when the tenth two-star green card lay on the table.

Powerful Slash, Sharp Edge, Pierce, Facing the Wind... Every two-star Skill Card was different.

He had used different types of basic Skill Cards because the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion did not have enough stock to make up a full set of white Skill Cards of the same type. He had no choice but to substitute saber-and-sword cards with similar attributes.

Fortunately, his Rule Card seemed able to identify related attributes accurately, and the cards it produced through fusion all met his expectations.

"Rule Card, oh Rule Card, I want Facing-the-Wind Single Saber Slash to be the main card and the others to support it. Please don't go improvising and fuse them into some other Skill Card."

For this advancement, he had spent a full fifty thousand Ka'en on fifty one-star Skill Cards. If he failed, the loss would be enormous.

He first put in the Powerful Slash Skill Card, and the vortex immediately grew a little brighter. Then he fed in eight more green cards, including Sharp Edge, one after another. By the time the eighth card entered the vortex, a trace of extremely faint blue finally appeared within its pale green glow.

"Just as I thought! Eight cards can bring out a blue light, so ten will definitely work!"

His spirits lifted, Lin Qi immediately pushed the last two green cards in.

The vortex swelled instantly, its blue light nearly illuminating the entire room.

When the light faded, a card glowing a deep blue slowly floated before him. The patterns around its edges resembled flowing wind and carried a sharp aura.

"Three stars! It really is three stars!"

Lin Qi grabbed the card, so excited that his palm broke out in sweat.

Only today, after seeing Alicia's three-star green card, had he learned that a card's star level and quality did not necessarily correspond. He had worried that after spending ten green cards, he would only fuse them into a green three-star card. Now it seemed he had worried for nothing.

"The Rule Card's logic should prioritize quality, while the star level follows the upper limit of the materials."

After recording this fusion experience on paper, Lin Qi steadied his breathing and eagerly checked the new card's information. This was the first blue card he had ever fused!

Skill Card: Wind-Chasing Triple Slash

Star level: three stars

Quality: blue

Attributes: penetration +30, wind speed compatibility +50%

Card description: using a weapon as a medium, tear through the air ahead to form three consecutive vacuum slashes. Each of the latter two slashes has one times the power of the preceding slash. Wind can be used to extend the attack range.

Evaluation: Wind-Chasing Triple Slash is a perfect match for saber-and-sword Card Masters. It can display the ultimate sharpness of "cleaving the airflow" and receives an additional boost in wind-attribute environments.

"Now that's a Skill Card! It's more than a whole tier stronger than Facing-the-Wind Single Saber Slash!"

Lin Qi felt that this one card alone would let Lin Feng defeat a Five-Star Card Master.

"Whew~"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qi brought out his own Natal Card, Sword-Wielding Skeleton.

"Last time, I fused it with five two-star skeleton cards, but it didn't break through to blue quality. Later, I tried fusing it with other types of two-star cards, but got an 'attributes do not match' prompt. The entire Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion only has four two-star skeleton-related cards now. I'm still one short this time..."

Skeleton Warrior, Soul-Burning Skeleton, Skeleton Shield Guard, Skeleton Strongman.

"Let's fuse them all at once!"

The vortex appeared again, and all five cards went into it together. This time, the vortex glowed with exceptional intensity, with a hint of deep blue, but the fusion was much slower than before, evidently because of the special nature of the cards' attributes.

Lin Qi waited patiently until the vortex's light gradually receded. A card glowing a rich green floated out, but a trace of extremely faint blue light lingered around its edges. It was clearly only one step away from blue quality.

"Just as I thought, I'm still one card short."

Looking at the card before him, Lin Qi wore an expression that said he had expected this.

Summoning Card: Hero's Remains

Star level: one star

Quality: green

Talent: Hero's Fearlessness (feels no fear when facing enemies stronger than itself; attack +20%, defense +10%)

Weapon: Corpse Greatsword (attack +30, comes with a heavy strike effect)

Skill 1: Hero's Charge (charges in a straight line, stunning the target on impact; can carry a weapon to perform a charging slash)

Skill 2: Intermediate Swordsmanship (mastery of basic sword techniques, including cleaving, chopping, thrusting, and upward slashing; attack accuracy +30%)

Card description: a hero's conviction and courage have seeped into the marrow. Even after death, when reduced to bones, it inherits the hero's conviction and fighting instincts. Thanks to the special nature of one set of "hero's remains," it has the potential to become a king.

Evaluation: a special skeleton Summoning Card fused from the remains of multiple warriors who died in battle. It breaks convention and has room for growth. If a Hero's Heart can be found, it can break through to blue quality and open the king-level evolution path.

"Even its weapon was upgraded! And now it has the potential to become a king!"

Lin Qi looked at the card in his hand, his shock plain to see.

He could tell that although this card was also green quality, it was several times stronger than the Sword-Wielding Skeleton had been.

The image on the card had changed.

It showed a tall skeleton holding a black greatsword covered in bone spurs. Golden soul fire flickered in its eye sockets. It no longer had its former sinister appearance, instead giving off an awe-inspiring heroic aura.

Lin Qi rubbed his chin, making calculations in his head.

The Mercenary's Saber I fused before was also better quality than the ones sold at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion. Now it seems that wasn't a coincidence. Cards produced through fusion with the Fusion Card are all the highest quality within their tier!

Although fusing a blue-quality card required ten green cards, with not a single one to spare, Lin Qi was very satisfied with the strength of the resulting card.

Lin Qi's gaze fell on the two hundred-odd Dust Star iron sword cards remaining on the table.

"Five Dust Star Cards can fuse into a one-star white Mercenary's Saber, five one-star white cards can fuse into a two-star green card, and ten two-star green cards can fuse into a three-star blue card... That means two hundred and fifty iron sword cards can fuse into a three-star blue card!"

At that point in his calculations, Lin Qi's eyes lit up. "A Dust Star Card costs ten Ka'en, so two hundred and fifty cost twenty-five hundred Ka'en. A three-star blue Implement Card can sell for at least twenty thousand Ka'en in Stone Iron City. After costs, that's a net profit of seventeen thousand five hundred Ka'en! And there are hardly any blue-quality cards at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion. If I sell one at auction, the price could go even higher!"

He had been thinking that selling Mercenary's Sabers one at a time was too slow. Now it seemed that fusing high-star cards directly was where the huge profits lay!

Lin Qi slapped the table and made his decision. "First, I'll fuse a three-star blue Implement Card! Not only will it let me recover the funds quickly, it'll also drop another bombshell about Dad's identity as a card maker. If he can even make three-star blue cards, who would dare question his ability?"

Lin Qi immediately set about organizing the materials, and the pale blue light of the vortex once again filled the room.

This time, he would create a three-star blue card, something Stone Iron City had not seen in a long time, and make the Wonderful Tales Shop's name truly known!