Rule Card

The sudden breakup did not leave Lin Qi all that heartbroken.

This was not Blue Star, where people had to line up just to find a partner.

Take the blacksmith's son in town. He had only broken through to One-Star Card Apprentice a few days ago, and his family had already arranged matches with three young women and prepared the gifts for their first meetings.

On this continent, strength gave you confidence.

Whether it was one husband with multiple wives or one wife with multiple husbands, as long as you were strong enough, nobody would raise a word of objection even if you had a harem of three thousand beauties.

Lin Qi stretched and suppressed the lingering discomfort the breakup had stirred up, muttering to himself.

"Alas, what is meant to be will be. What isn't meant to be can't be forced."

He did have regrets. It felt like having a daughter he had lovingly raised for years snatched away by some blond punk, and it certainly did not feel good.

But compared with those feelings, the bottleneck in his cultivation was far more frustrating.

"Dear heavens, now that my romantic luck has run out, could you give me a little luck in cultivation?"

His gaze returned to the card on the table.

"Let's see what this breakup compensation is."

He picked up the card between his fingertips. Sunlight shone through the window lattice onto its surface, revealing a grayish-white skeleton.

"A one-star Summoning Card, Skeleton Foot Soldier..."

He had to admit, it was exactly what Lin Qi had dreamed of.

But he had wanted to turn his own natal card into a Skeleton Foot Soldier, not receive a Skeleton Foot Soldier Summoning Card.

"I also have a two-star Beast Taming Card, Wind Chime Cat, but until I break through to One-Star Card Apprentice, I can't open a card slot space. Without one, these two things are worth less than a piece of paper!"

He clenched his fist, a defiant spirit rising in his heart.

"The more I can't have it, the more I'm going to prove myself! The Rose Count cultivated from a trash card all the way to Card Mastery Grandmaster, so why can't I, Lin Qi, do the same?"

Summoning that mysterious vortex natal card, Lin Qi sat down cross-legged and poured his newly recovered Source Power into it bit by bit.

The vortex card was like a bottomless pit. Every time, it drained his Source Power completely, leaving not the slightest trace.

Strangely, though, every time he cultivated again after his Source Power had been drained, he could clearly feel it recovering a little faster. Even the total amount of Source Power in his body was quietly increasing.

It was precisely this little golden finger, which ensured his efforts paid off, that had kept Lin Qi cultivating to the point of neglecting food and sleep.

For the next few days, Lin Qi's life was utterly uneventful. All he did was cultivate.

After Lin Feng returned, he took over all the work at the general store. Lin Qi cultivated on the roof every day, from the first light of dawn until dusk settled, grandly calling it absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for greater cultivation efficiency.

That afternoon, the blazing sun baked the roof tiles until they were hot to the touch.

Lin Qi sat cross-legged on the roof, beads of sweat running down his temples and cheeks. Yet he never let go of his natal card, and his fingertips continued to channel Source Power into it.

"I've never seen anyone work as hard as Xiao Qi in my life."

Ruilian came over carrying two sacks of freshly collected herbs. Looking at Lin Qi cultivating on the roof beneath the blazing sun, he could not help offering a few words of praise.

"Oh, come on. You think my son's a slacker like you?"

Lin Feng took the herbs and looked at his almost obsessed son, feeling both distressed for him and gratified.

"Hahahaha, you're right, Brother Feng. Back when we were mercenaries, we couldn't sit still after cultivating for two hours a day. That boy Xiao Qi really is something..."

Ruilian was Lin Feng's old partner and a Three-Star Card Master. He was currently unemployed and occasionally came by to help Lin Feng transport goods, living a fairly carefree life in this small town.

"It's mealtime, Brother Feng. Aren't you going to cook?" Ruilian looked at the sky. The sun was nearly down.

Lin Feng waved a hand.

"No need. The boy only eats breakfast and dinner now, and he cultivates for at least fourteen hours a day. The way he's going today, he'll probably skip dinner too."

Sure enough,

Even after the moon climbed above the treetops, the figure on the roof had not moved.

Moonlight covered Lin Qi's face like a thin veil. His steadfast, serious expression spoke of the stubbornness in his heart.

"The eighty-seventh time..."

He murmured under his breath. As his natal card drained his Source Power yet again, he felt as if all his strength had been taken with it. He fell backward and lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

Over those three days, his progress had been visible to the naked eye.

On the first day, he could only manage a little over ten rounds of pouring in Source Power. On the second, that number had risen to over forty. By now, even his Source Power recovery was twice as fast as before, while the total amount in his body had increased severalfold.

Even so, Lin Qi still had not reached the threshold of One-Star Card Apprentice, and he could not help feeling anxious.

"How much longer until I awaken? Could it really take three years, like I originally thought...?"

Lin Qi gazed at the moon on the horizon. It was as round as the vortex on his natal card. As he watched, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they finally closed.

"Coo! Coo! Coo!"

The next morning, a coo-coo bird called outside the window. Lin Qi covered his ears in annoyance, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

He had cultivated until late into the night and had been so tired that he decided to rest his eyes for a while.

But this soft blanket, this comfortable feeling, and that faint stench...

"Wait! Isn't that the smell of the stinky socks in my room that I haven't washed in a week?!"

He opened his eyes abruptly and discovered that he was in bed.

He did not need to think to know that Lin Feng must have carried him back in the middle of the night.

"Damn, I actually fell asleep! How much time did I waste?!"

His face full of regret, he wanted to slap his own handsome face.

"I'd better cultivate and make up for the time I wasted!"

Sitting cross-legged, Lin Qi took out his vortex natal card.

As soon as he circulated the Source Power in his body, the card suddenly emitted a soft glow. The vortex that had been motionless on its surface began to turn slowly, as if water were really swirling inside it!

"Th-this is..."

Lin Qi's pupils contracted, and his breathing quickened.

His hands trembled slightly as he gripped the card, his heart pounding so hard it felt ready to leap out of his chest.

It had been nearly half a month since he awakened his card!

He had drained his Source Power every day, and his natal card had finally shown a change!

"Heaven doesn't let down those who work hard!"

Lin Qi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Let's see what ability this card I've been nurturing with Source Power for half a month actually has."

He closed his eyes and poured both his mental power and Source Power into the card. A faint voice suddenly rang out in his mind, as if coming from a distant void.

"Rule Card?"

He murmured to himself, his eyes full of confusion. "What kind of card is that? I've never heard of it."

The next second, more information flooded into his mind, etching itself clearly into his consciousness.

"Within the domain of rules, all cards can be fused."

Lin Qi was completely baffled. He stared at the card in his hand and scratched his head.

"Fusion Cards? Does that mean fusion evolution like in a game?"

To test it, he hurried out of bed and rummaged through the drawer for the Skeleton Minion Summoning Card and the two-star Beast Taming Card, Wind Chime Cat.

He placed the two cards in his palm with his bone natal card sandwiched between them, then held his breath and waited.

A moment later, the vortex in his mind sent another message. This time, the voice was clearer.

"Under the fusion rule, only complete cards can be fused."

"Complete cards?"

Lin Qi slapped his forehead. Only then did he remember that his bone natal card was a trash card, and its biggest problem was that it was incomplete.

"It's only one bone, so it certainly doesn't count as a complete card! I need a complete set of bones! I have to find more bones to complete my natal card!"

He jumped out of bed excitedly and rushed downstairs barefoot.

"Son, why are you up so early today? Breakfast isn't ready yet."

Lin Feng was standing in the courtyard brushing his teeth, watching in surprise as Lin Qi rushed into the kitchen.

"Dad, where are my bones?"

Lin Qi poked his head out of the kitchen and looked around. Previously, he had

deliberately collected the bones he had stripped out while dissecting card beasts in a bamboo basket and left it in the corner of the kitchen. But why was it gone now?

Lin Feng pointed behind him. "Look, aren't they right there?"

Behind him?

Lin Qi looked where he was pointing. A large pot was steaming on the stove, something bubbling away inside it and giving off a rich, meaty aroma.

His heart sank, and an ominous feeling welled up inside him.

Lin Qi swallowed, his voice trembling a little.

"Dad, you didn't... stew those bones, did you?"

Seeing Lin Qi like this, Lin Feng swallowed some toothpaste. He instinctively felt as though he had done something wrong.

"I saw how hard you've been cultivating lately and thought I'd stew some big bones to nourish you."

Lin Qi looked at the bones rolling around in the pot, a vein throbbing at his temple.

He was seething inside, but he had no way to vent.

Who could have thought that these seemingly useless bones would now be the key to fusing his natal card?

"Dad, go to the market and buy me some more bones first. The more, the better."

Lin Qi prepared a basin of cold water, then picked up a ladle and began fishing the bones out of the pot.

"All right, all right, I'll go right now!"

Lin Feng did not dare ask any more questions. He tossed his toothbrush into the cup, grabbed his coat, and ran out the door, afraid his son would blow up if he was a moment too late.