Hellfire Skeleton

After chatting with Lin Feng for a while longer, Lin Qi took a wooden box upstairs.

Ruilian had brought the wooden box back from the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion yesterday. Inside were a Source Crystal Card and a number of other cards.

"The Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion paid 150,000 Ka'en for the three Phantom Longswords, and there are these Skeleton Foot Soldiers they threw in for free..."

After transferring the money from his card sales over the past two days onto one card, Lin Qi stared at the cold balance of 200,000 Ka'en, his feelings more complicated than ever.

"If I hadn't discovered the Fusion Card's true use, I'd have had to sell goods for seven or eight years to save up 200,000 Ka'en."

He rubbed the Fusion Card with his fingertips and turned his gaze to the Skeleton Foot Soldiers.

The next second, the Rule Card turned into a vortex and swallowed all the Skeleton Minion Cards. Green light swirled, and three two-star green cards engraved with bone-spike patterns settled onto the table: Skeleton Warrior Summoning Cards.

"Hero's Remains, you'll soon be able to advance to blue quality!" Lin Qi gently brushed his fingertips over the card, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice.

When a Card Master's Natal Card broke through to a higher quality, the Card Master would receive an enormous influx of Source Power. A Natal Card that advanced to blue quality or above could almost directly propel its Card Master up an entire star rank.

It had been less than a month since Lin Qi awakened his Natal Card. If he succeeded in advancing it, he would leap from a Two-Star Card Apprentice to a Three-Star Card Master. He didn't know how that speed would compare elsewhere, but in Stone Iron City, he reckoned even the city lord's daughter, Alicia, couldn't match it.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qi laid out the cards he had prepared one by one.

"Three Skeleton Warrior Cards as the core base, eight two-star Exploding Fireball Magic Cards to provide fire energy, and two two-star Mercenary's Greatsword Implement Cards to strengthen close combat. Then a three-star Magic-Resistance Breastplate and Boots of Stealth to shore up defense and mobility..."

This was the new fusion plan he had worked out through repeated deliberation. Rather than limiting himself to advancing a single card, he intended to create a fully armed, all-round Natal Card with both offense and defense and no weaknesses.

"Fusion!"

At his low shout, all the cards rose into the air at once and were completely swept into the vortex formed by the Fusion Card.

Green and blue light intertwined and clashed within the vortex. The metallic patterns of the Magic-Resistance Breastplate wound around the fiery glow of Exploding Fireball, while the sharp aura of the Mercenary's Greatsword pierced the edge of the vortex, stirring up the Source Power throughout the room.

Lin Qi stared at the center of the vortex, concentrating his mental power. This fusion was completely different from the ones before. The various cards had vastly different energy attributes, and the slightest mistake would cause them to clash. He had to use his mental power as a guide and Source Power as a thread, precisely directing each stream of energy to merge in an orderly fashion.

Under his strenuous guidance, the raging vortex gradually contracted, and a dazzling blue light burst through it. The light slowly gathered and took shape in midair, finally becoming a palm-sized card that floated before his eyes.

A sheen.

On the face of the card, a lifelike skeleton stood proudly, clad in heavy armor and wreathed in flames.

Summoning Card: Hellfire Skeleton

Star rank: three-star

Quality: blue

Attributes: fire/undead

Talent: Undying Fighting Spirit (even if destroyed, the netherflame at its core will linger on the battlefield. If no powerful outside force purifies it within a short time, it can reconstruct its body from the netherflame once and rejoin the battle)

Equipment 1: Netherflame Set. Heavy armor forged from dark metal, with netherflame flowing through the gaps (fire resistance +50, defense +40, speed +30)

Equipment 2: Corpse Greatsword. Its blade is covered in bone spikes and wreathed in flames when swung (attack +45, applies heavy strike and burn effects)

Skill 1: Hero's Charge (charges in a straight line and stuns the target on impact; can use a weapon to deliver a charging slash)

Skill 2: Intermediate Swordsmanship (mastery of basic swordsmanship techniques such as cleaving, slashing, thrusting, and upward cuts; attack accuracy +50%)

Skill 3: Purgatory Slash. Compresses fire energy intensely within the blade, then unleashes a massive netherflame shockwave that spreads forward along the ground, dealing devastating damage to all enemies in its path and leaving behind a trail of continuously burning flames.

Card description: A burly skeleton standing 2.5 meters tall, with every bone far harder than refined steel. It wears a full suit of heavy armor cast from dark metal. Surging dark red netherflame flickers in the gaps in its armor and its eye sockets as though breathing.

Evaluation: A perfect fusion of undead and fire, combining extreme defense, terrifying area damage, and a despair-inducing will to fight. A strategic force capable of turning the tide of battle.

"Hellfire Skeleton... now this is a Natal Card worthy of me!"

Lin Qi grasped the card in his trembling hand. A mental link formed instantly, and a vast surge of power flowed from the card into his sea of consciousness.

Within his Card Slot Space, the Hellfire Skeleton stood in the center, its dark red netherflame radiating a terrifying pressure. The Wind Chime Cat cowered in a corner, trembling, while even the Eerie Vine Demon, another three-star blue card, lowered its vines in a gesture of submission.

At the same time, a vast amount of Source Power flowed from the card into Lin Qi's body. His bones crackled faintly, his muscles became more defined beneath his clothes, and he even seemed to grow taller again.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power surging through him.

"I feel like... I'm not afraid of fire anymore..."

To test his theory, Lin Qi took out a Small Flame Dust Star Card and infused it with a trace of Source Power. A pale orange flame danced at his fingertip. He placed his palm directly over it and felt only a slight warmth after ten seconds, with no burning sensation at all.

"So that's it. The Hellfire Skeleton's fire attribute gave me fire resistance."

He gazed at the flame dancing in his palm, then looked at the Hellfire Skeleton Card in his hand, his eyes gleaming.

With the strength of a Three-Star Card Master and two three-star blue cards, the Hellfire Skeleton and the Eerie Vine Demon, he no longer had to take even a Five-Star Card Master seriously in Stone Iron City.

"Lei De, and the bandits on Stone Iron Mountain, even if you have a Grand Card Master backing you this time, you're all as good as dead." Lin Qi's gaze turned cold, and his past grudges grew clearer at that moment.

"After advancing to three-star, my Card Slot Space expanded and gained another empty slot. It's time to make a new card to fill it."

Lin Qi took the useless cards out of his drawer.

Dust Star Cards: Small Spark, Grease, A Wisp of Breeze, and Smoke.

These were the cards he had the most of among his useless cards. They were even worse than the single bone he had when he first awakened.

After all, hitting someone with a bone would at least cause a little pain, but A Wisp of Breeze and Smoke could be countered with a breath.

But for Lin Qi, who possessed the Fusion Card, these useless cards could gain new life in his hands.

The Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion in Stone Iron City had too limited a selection of cards, and none remained that could let him fuse something new. He intended to use the new cards he fused himself to experiment with advancing them.

"Two Small Sparks and three Grease cards can fuse into a white-quality, two-star Burning Trap Summoning Card. Three Breeze Dust Star Cards and two Smoke Dust Star Cards can fuse into a one-star Obscuring Dust Spell Magic Card.

"My current Natal Cards don't lack offensive power, but I still don't have a way to escape. Why not try fusing Obscuring Dust Spell up to three-star?"

Having made up his mind, he began fusing large numbers of one-star Obscuring Dust Spell Magic Cards.

Soon, a small mountain of cards had piled up on the table.