Reactions from All Sides

Unlike the calm reception at the city lord's manor, the news caused an uproar at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion.

"Blue-quality cards? And three of them?! Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Fiona slammed her palm on the long mahogany table, her finely made-up face turning stern with excitement.

Lyd, standing before her, hastily straightened his back. His eyes nevertheless drifted to Fiona's chest as it rose and fell with the movement, and he swallowed before replying:

"Yes, Head Deacon, it's absolutely true! The whole mercenary community is buzzing about it. People from all the major mercenary corps are rushing to the Wonderful Tales Shop to take part in this afternoon's card sale."

Fiona was stunned. If the mercenary corps had all returned to the city, then there was a ninety percent chance the news was true.

The remaining ten percent was the chance that Lin Feng wanted to be torn to pieces and had played a trick on everyone.

"Lin Feng, Lin Feng..."

Fiona did remember the man. Besides being a Four-Star Card Master, he stood out because he stared fixedly at her every time he came to buy cards.

Fiona knew she was beautiful and made full use of that advantage. Whenever she strolled around the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, customer traffic generally increased.

But everyone else stole glances and at least pretended to be gentlemen. Lin Feng was completely different. His gaze was so aggressive, as though he could see through her body.

"Could he be a card maker?"

Whenever Lin Feng came to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, he did nothing but wander around and admire her. She had never seen him buy a single card. Only recently had his son, Lin Qi, begun buying cards in bulk, and afterward, Lin Feng's shop had started selling cards.

Putting that string of facts together, Fiona suddenly reached a conclusion: Lin Feng was a card maker!

"No wonder he never bought cards when he came to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion. He was using our cards as references to make better-quality ones."

Fiona looked down at the two Mercenary's Sabers on the table. One had been made by the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, and the other had been bought from a mercenary.

The saber the mercenary had bought from the Wonderful Tales Shop was indeed sharper than the one sold by the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion.

"Lyd, go fetch Kane."

Kane?

Lyd's gaze turned cold. He had grown thoroughly sick of Kane lately.

Now that Fiona was calling Kane over, Lyd's own standing had clearly fallen!

"What are you standing around for?"

"Oh, yes."

Inside the Wonderful Tales Shop.

Lin Qi slept especially deeply.

Depleting his Source Power only left his body weak. The Source Power in the world would slowly seep into him and replenish what he had used.

But excessive mental exhaustion was not so easy to recover from. Even in deep sleep, his mind was a jumble of bizarre nightmares.

One moment, it was the light running out of control as he fused cards; the next, it was a ceaseless stream of Source Power surging through his body. His brows remained tightly knitted, and beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"Ahh~"

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Qi stretched hard, his bones giving a faint crack.

He opened his eyes groggily. Sunlight slanted through the window lattice, and the glare made him squint instinctively. It took him a while to come around, and he was still somewhat dazed.

"It feels like I slept for ages. I didn't expect it to be only noon."

He muttered to himself and pushed himself upright, his head still a little heavy.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Lin Qi rested his hands naturally on his knees and slowly cleared his mind, trying to enter a meditative state.

This was his unique way of meditating.

For ordinary Card Masters, meditation was merely a way to guide Source Power into their bodies. But he could look inward at his own body while meditating, allowing his strained mind to slowly relax as though soaking in warm water.

Perhaps it was because he had heard so much about Buddhist visualization and Daoist cultivation of qi in his previous life. Although he had never studied either, ever since awakening his Natal Card, he could naturally enter a state of deep concentration while cultivating simply by focusing on the flow of Source Power.

Otherwise, given how restless he usually was, he could never have cultivated for hours at a time.

"Creak~"

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Qi, though his eyes were closed, clearly sensed the door opening and someone tiptoeing inside.

"Dad, just put the food on the table."

"You're finally awake."

There was a note of relief in Lin Feng's voice.

"It's also my fault for not making this clear to you before. As a Card Master, you must always leave a tenth of your Source Power in your body. If you really drain yourself completely and run into danger, you won't even have the strength to protect yourself. That would be disastrous."

As he spoke, Lin Feng carried a steaming bowl of meat soup to the bedside, its rich aroma instantly filling Lin Qi's nostrils.

"Drink it while it's hot."

Lin Qi opened his eyes, took the heavy porcelain bowl, and picked up the spoon, eating in great mouthfuls. The rich soup slid down his throat, warming his stomach comfortably, and much of his earlier fatigue faded.

"Dad, weren't you selling cards in the shop? Was business bad today?"

Selling cards?

Lin Feng froze for a moment, then shook his head. "The cards sold out yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

Lin Qi's hand stopped moving, and his eyes filled with astonishment. He distinctly remembered sleeping for only a few hours. How had a whole day passed?

"You slept for a full day and night, you rascal."

Lin Feng pulled a Source Crystal Card and a three-star card, the Boots of Stealth, from his pocket.

"The one-star and two-star cards all sold at market price. The mercenary corps went wild over the three-star Phantom Longsword, and the bidding finally drove it up to forty thousand Ka'en. The Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps bought it. People from the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion bought two pairs of Boots of Stealth. I thought you could use a pair when you went out, so I saved one for you. I'll use the other myself."

Lin Qi took the two cards and discovered that the balance on the Source Crystal Card was actually 120,000 Ka'en. Clearly, the three-star cards had sold for more than he had estimated.

"Dad, did the people from the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion just come to buy cards? Didn't they say anything else?"

Lin Feng rubbed his chin. "They also placed an order for three Phantom Longswords, offering fifty thousand apiece. I thought it was a good deal, so I agreed. Why? Is there a problem?"

"Fifty thousand Ka'en?"

A knowing smile curled Lin Qi's lips.

"You sold one to the mercenary corps for only forty thousand, but the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion offered ten thousand more. They weren't just buying cards; they were clearly testing whether you're a card maker."

At most, card-making apprentices could make one-star and two-star cards of white quality. Only true card makers could produce cards of green quality or higher.

Every card maker in the duchy could receive a stipend and enjoyed an extremely high status.

The Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion was willing to pay a high price to order cards because, put plainly, it was trying to find out what Lin Feng was capable of.

If Lin Feng really was a card maker, then offering fifty thousand per card would not be a test, but an attempt to build goodwill. After all, the price they had offered was far above market value.

If Lin Feng could not make the Phantom Longswords, Lin Qi did not know what the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion would think. But it certainly would not be anything good.

"Son, what should we do now?"

Although Lin Feng trusted Lin Qi's ability, he was still uncertain. After all, the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion was a tremendously powerful organization.

"Don't worry."

Lin Qi put down the empty bowl, his eyes much clearer now.

"Since the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion wants to recruit you, they definitely won't make a move against us before confirming who you are. We can use this time to prepare more card-making materials so we'll be ready for what comes next."

Lin Qi had already thought it through. Since the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion wanted to recruit Lin Feng, he could walk right into the pavilion and buy cards openly, and they would be more than happy to serve him.

He could tell that Fiona was an ambitious woman who would never be content to remain in a small place like Stone Iron City for long.

Recruiting a card maker into the pavilion would be no small achievement, and much faster than the hard work of building up sales by selling cards in Stone Iron City.