Two-Star Card Apprentice

"Xiao Qi, you're back."

As Lin Qi returned home from the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion and pushed open the door, a familiar voice greeted him along with the aroma of food.

His gaze immediately settled on the figure busy in the kitchen.

Uncle Ruilian was wearing Lin Feng's apron, washed so often it had faded, and methodically slicing mushrooms on a cutting board with a kitchen knife.

"Uh, Uncle Ruilian?"

Lin Qi hurried over, his voice full of confusion. "Why are you cooking here? Where's my dad?"

Ruilian sliced mushrooms into the pot as he spoke.

"Your dad said he wanted to make a breakthrough to Five-Star Card Master. He was afraid a distraction might ruin it, so he asked me to come look after the shop for him and make you a hot meal while I was at it."

"Oh? Dad's finally making a breakthrough!"

Lin Qi's eyes lit up at once.

The news made him even happier than earning a fortune.

Lin Feng had been stuck at four-star Card Master for ten years. After that long, even a salted fish ought to flop around a little.

When Lin Qi was a child, he had thought Lin Feng had suffered an internal injury during his days as a mercenary, leaving his cultivation stuck in place.

Only after growing up and gradually getting to know his father's temperament did he finally understand.

The old man wasn't injured or lacking in talent. He was simply lazy and loved to eat!

Back when Lin Feng was a mercenary, he had lived on a knife's edge, fighting for his life on every mission. Even without actively cultivating, he could increase his Source Power through combat.

But after he changed professions and opened the shop, Lin Qi used his nimble business sense to keep everything running smoothly, taking the entire burden off Lin Feng's shoulders.

Every day, Lin Feng either lay in his rocking chair drinking tea or went to play chess with the neighbors. His life was more leisurely than a retiree's.

He even made it sound respectable, saying that his strength was enough for Stone Iron City and that he couldn't break through to Grand Card Master anyway, so four stars and five stars were all the same.

People were like that: only when driven by pressure and danger could they improve. Once they started lying flat, it was as though they had put down roots and never wanted to get up again.

It seems my card-making talent has finally made Dad feel the pressure again. He wants to raise his cultivation so he can help me deal with some unnecessary trouble.

After exchanging a few more words with Ruilian, Lin Qi returned to his room upstairs.

He tidied the room until everything was in order, then spread a dark blue cloth over his desk and took out all the cards, his expression solemn.

For Lin Qi, fusing cards was a solemn and sacred affair, not something to be treated carelessly.

One stack on the desk consisted of custom cards ordered by the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion, while the other was new stock to be put up for sale in the shop tomorrow.

Lin Qi lightly ran his fingertips over the cool cards, his gaze growing focused.

"I'll fuse the Phantom Longswords first. The rest can wait."

After suffering through having his Source Power and mental energy drained once, he no longer dared to fuse cards as madly as before. He didn't want to sleep for another whole day and night, wasting cultivation time.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qi summoned the Rule Card, and a faint trace of Source Power gathered at his fingertips.

The next moment, a vortex appeared out of thin air above the desk. Its swirling currents exerted a faint pull, drawing the Iron Sword cards on the desk into it one by one.

The cards spun rapidly in the vortex, the patterns on their surfaces gradually lighting up. As the light grew brighter, the Iron Sword cards began to change, slowly transforming into a pure white glow, then green, then blue...

Each time he successfully fused a three-star blue card, Lin Qi stopped to cultivate, slowly restoring his depleted mental energy and Source Power.

After repeating the process several times over four hours, he finally finished fusing all four three-star Phantom Longsword Implement Cards. They floated neatly before him, the blades on the cards shimmering with a cold blue light.

Without stopping to rest, Lin Qi immediately took out his Natal Card and began cultivating.

The Source Power in the air seemed to be guided toward him, turning into countless tiny points of light that poured into his body.

The Hero's Remains Natal Card in his hand also began to glow with a soft golden light. The skeleton design on the card gradually grew clearer, and faint energy flowed through the patterns in its bones.

After an unknown amount of time, a dazzling point of starlight suddenly burst from the card and branded itself onto the upper-left corner of the Hero's Remains.

It was the mark of an advancement to two stars!

His eyes snapped open. He felt the Source Power within him, which had been completely empty, fill up in an instant. His mental energy was more abundant than ever, even stronger than it had been at its peak.

Summoning Card: Hero's Remains

Star level: Two stars

Quality: Green

Talent: Hero's Fearlessness (feels no fear when facing an enemy stronger than itself; attack +25%, defense +15%)

Weapon: Corpse Greatsword (attack +35, carries 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 (masters basic swordsmanship techniques such as cleaving, slashing, thrusting, and upward cuts; attack accuracy +35%)

Card description: The hero's conviction and courage have reached the marrow of his bones. Even after death, having become a skeleton, he inherits a hero's conviction and combat instincts. Owing to the special nature of one of the "hero's skeletons," he has the potential to become a king.

Evaluation: A special skeleton Summoning Card that breaks convention, fused from the remains of several warriors who died in battle. It has room to grow. If the Hero's Heart can be found, it can advance to blue quality and unlock a king-tier evolution path.

"I broke through to Two-Star Card Apprentice!"

Lin Qi clenched his fists in excitement. Gaining strength felt amazing.

"It took Wang Meng three years to become a Two-Star Card Apprentice, and Wang Teng's still bouncing around at One-Star Card Apprentice. I only took one month. That makes me a genius, doesn't it?"

Lin Qi raised the Rule Card. He knew his Natal Card deserved a great deal of credit for his rapid breakthrough.

There were three best ways for a Card Master to increase their Source Power.

The first was meditation, absorbing Source Power from the world around them.

The second was combat: exhausting their Source Power and then cultivating. But even setting aside the Source Power spent, a battle between Card Masters took quite a while, and they also had to consider whether either of them might get hurt. This method wasn't very efficient.

The third was Source Crystals. They contained the purest Source Power. The amethyst that had helped the townspeople awaken their Natal Cards at the Lava Church was a Source Crystal.

One Source Crystal was worth ten thousand Ka'en, and even then it was only enough for a Card Apprentice to cultivate for one day. A Card Master could probably absorb one completely in a few hours. Thus, the third method was also known as the rich person's cultivation method.

Because of card fusion, Lin Qi drained his Source Power dozens of times every day. Each time he exhausted it and replenished it, his capacity grew a tiny bit larger than before. Over time, his Source Power reserves had surpassed those of Card Apprentices at the same level.

Now, even though he had only just broken through to Two-Star Card Apprentice, he had more Source Power in his body than those who had spent a long time at that level.