Accept Any Gift

After putting eight two-star Exploding Fireball Magic Cards into his shoulder bag, Lin Qi summoned the Wind Chime Cat and headed out.

He had kept the eight Magic Cards instead of selling them just in case.

His reserves of Source Power had now reached the level of a Two-Star Card Apprentice, and using a two-star Magic Card consumed only a tenth of his Source Power. If he did run into someone with ill intentions, even a Five-Star Card Master would have a hard time dealing with eight two-star cards detonated in succession.

An ordinary Card Master would have long since made such a useful two-star Magic Card a Secondary Card, ready to summon and use at any time.

But Lin Qi was different. He was a One-Star Card Apprentice, with only one slot in his Card Slot Space.

The Wind Chime Cat's place could never be taken, so he could only use the two-star Magic Cards as single-use cards. They weren't expensive anyway, worth only eight thousand Ka'en apiece.

He was now a man with a hundred and twenty thousand Ka'en to his name, and he was about to make another batch of cards. The Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion alone had ordered three Phantom Longswords. A cool hundred and fifty thousand Ka'en was waiting for him.

"Honored guest, you're here."

As soon as Lin Qi entered the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, Kane hurried over in his steward's uniform, a warm smile plastered across his face.

The guests who had been chatting in small groups nearby saw how attentive the normally solemn steward was, and their gazes toward Lin Qi grew much more respectful.

"Not bad, Kane. You've broken through to Two-Star Card Apprentice."

After linking with the Wind Chime Cat's card, the Beast Taming Card had given him keen senses. Lin Qi could tell that Kane's Source Power was stronger than when they had last met.

Kane's smile broadened, and his tone held a hint of gratitude. "It's thanks to you! After I was promoted to trainee steward, headquarters gave me a Secondary Card of good quality. That's how I managed to break through to the next star rank."

"Hahaha, that was no fluke. From what I can see, there's more good fortune ahead of you than that."

Lin Qi reached out and patted him on the shoulder, then went straight upstairs.

Those simple words and that single gesture made Kane's heart leap.

He had long suspected that Lin Qi intended to cultivate him, but since he belonged to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, he had remained hesitant.

Now that he had experienced the power and convenience that came with his promotion, and Lin Qi had subtly hinted at even greater opportunities ahead, the temptation was too much to resist. He felt the blood throughout his body grow hot.

Lin Qi sat down in a private room on the second floor and had just opened the card catalog on the table when he heard the door being gently pushed open.

Kane walked in carrying a tea tray, followed by a shapely figure. It was Fiona, the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion's head steward.

"Honored guest, what can I help you with on your visit to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion today?"

Ona approached with graceful steps, gathered her skirts, and sat down beside Lin Qi. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the curls beside her ear, and a sweet, fresh fragrance wafted over with her movement, refreshing his senses.

Alarm bells instantly rang in Lin Qi's mind. Is this woman trying to seduce me?! I'm still a minor!

In his previous life, he had died because he was a simp. Having lived again, he had long since seen through so-called beauty.

The more beautiful a woman was, the more deadly the danger she often concealed.

Besides, although he was young in this life, he had dated a few girlfriends. None had been as sexy and mature as Fiona, but they had given him a fair amount of immunity to women's various advances.

"Thank you for your concern, Head Steward. I'm here to buy card-making materials this time. After all, my father is an esteemed card maker. I can't have him personally attending to such trivial matters, can I?"

Although Lin Qi's manner was calm, the pride in his eyes was unmistakable.

Seeing that pride, Fiona did not find Lin Qi's attitude arrogant. Rather, she thought it only natural. If her father were a card maker, she would probably be even more ostentatious than Lin Qi.

"Of course! Master Lin Feng signed an order with our Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion just yesterday, yet I forgot to take the initiative and send him card-making materials. That was entirely my mistake."

A look of guilt immediately appeared on Fiona's face. She turned her palm over, and a card with a faint silver sheen appeared in it out of thin air.

She offered the silver card to Lin Qi, her tone sincere. "Honored guest, this Storage Card contains the materials the master needs to make cards. Please accept it as my apology to the master for my oversight."

"A Storage Card..."

Lin Qi's gaze fell on the silver card, and a flicker of interest appeared in his eyes.

He knew full well that a spatial card capable of storing items, even one with only a cubic meter of space, had a market price starting at a hundred thousand Ka'en. Fiona had even gone out of her way to fill it with card-making materials. This was no small apology.

He didn't stand on ceremony. He reached out and accepted the Storage Card, his tone softening somewhat. "I accept your kind offer, Head Steward. I'll be sure to convey your sentiments to my father when I return."

Seeing Lin Qi accept the card, Fiona's smile grew even gentler. "Then I won't disturb you while you choose your cards."

Her skirts swayed lightly as she rose. Turning to Kane, she instructed, "Take good care of our honored guest. If anything goes wrong, I'll hold you responsible."

"Take care, Head Steward."

Lin Qi also rose to see her off.

He knew he shouldn't get too close to a shrewd woman like Fiona, but there was no reason to turn down benefits offered to him.

After all, he wasn't a knight and had no chivalric spirit. He could gladly accept gifts without doing anything in return.

After Fiona left, Lin Qi sat down again and pushed the card catalog toward Kane.

"Kane, help me prepare these cards."

Kane respectfully took the catalog and withdrew, leaving Lin Qi alone in the private room.

He held the Storage Card between his fingertips, his eyes flickering.

"Let's see how sincere Fiona is."

He infused Source Power into the Storage Card, and a faint tremor suddenly came from his Card Slot Space. A curious sensation similar to establishing a link with a Secondary Card welled up in him, yet it did not occupy a card slot.

"I see."

Understanding dawned on Lin Qi. "This Storage Card is a special spatial card. It can be stored in the Card Slot Space without taking up a slot. It's quite a useful treasure."

He turned his palm over, and the Storage Card appeared in it once more. Now, however, the face of the card bore a faint imprint of his Source Power.

That meant that from now on, only he could open the Storage Card.

"Fiona really is a merchant. She's calculated everything carefully."

Lin Qi glanced inside the Storage Card. It was filled entirely with cards.

Aside from the Skeleton Cards in the summoning category and Skill Cards, there was another set of almost every card he had previously bought at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, in exactly the same quantities.

"If I fuse these cards and sell them, I can make at least fifty thousand Ka'en."

Lin Qi quickly did the calculations in his head.

"Rather than selling low-star cards mixed in with high-star ones, I might as well set up two sales channels. One can serve ordinary people, with small profits but high sales volume. The other can serve wealthy customers, making large profits from high-star cards.

"High-value cards like three-star blue cards can be sold exclusively to the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion or to mercenary captains and nobles in nearby towns. Cards of two stars and below are the popular goods aimed at the common people."

Before long, Kane came in carrying a heavy ebony box and respectfully placed it on the table.

"Honored guest, all the cards you requested are ready."

Lin Qi opened the wooden box. It was densely packed with stacks of cards, most of them one-star Implement Cards.

Although he hadn't spent many Ka'en this time, the number of cards he had bought was astonishing.

Kane explained from the side, "These thousand Iron Sword Cards are our Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion's current stock. I'm afraid we won't be selling any more of them for the coming week."

"That shows you have a good eye and know how to do business."

With a casual wave of Lin Qi's hand, all the cards in the wooden box flew into the Storage Card.

"You could also report the situation to headquarters and have some cards transferred from other towns to Stone Iron City. They're sure to sell well. That way, your rank could rise along with the turnover, and you might even catch the attention of the higher-ups."

Lin Qi had practically laid his cards on the table. Even if Kane were a fool, he would have understood.

Kane's eyes lit up at once, and he hurriedly bowed. "Thank you for the guidance, honored guest! By the way, headquarters is arranging the Summoning Cards you asked for earlier. They'll arrive in Stone Iron City in three days at most."

Lin Qi was very pleased to see him trying to claim credit. It showed that, in his heart, Kane had already come to see himself as one of Lin Qi's people.

"Good. Be sure to notify me as soon as the cards arrive."

Lin Qi patted Kane on the shoulder, paid by card, and left.

This time, he had spent fifty thousand Ka'en.

Besides ten thousand Ka'en's worth of Iron Swords, he had bought a hundred Sealing Cards and a hundred one-star Parasitic Vine Seed Summoning Cards.

Sealing Cards were used to make star-ranked cards and capture Card Beasts. Although they were blank cards, each was worth a hundred Ka'en.

He planned to capture Card Beasts himself in the future, and the Sealing Cards would come in handy then.

As for why he didn't simply buy Beast Taming Cards at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, first, they were too expensive to be worthwhile. Second, buying too many Beast Taming Cards would easily arouse suspicion.

He could say the Iron Sword Implement Cards were for card-making materials, but if he bought a large number of Beast Taming Cards, he couldn't very well claim they were ingredients for cooking, could he?

As for the Parasitic Vine Seed, this Summoning Card belonged to the most ordinary category. Like the Skeleton Foot Soldier, it cost only three hundred Ka'en per card, but Lin Qi had taken an interest in its potential.

Breaking down the name Parasitic Vine Seed yielded three terms: wood attribute, parasitism, and vine seed.

That was much like a Card Beast he had seen in the card catalog, the Vine Tree Demon.

However, the Vine Tree Demon was a high-level Card Beast, and Lin Qi knew next to nothing about that kind of Card Beast. He could only study it slowly in the future.