The Card Apprentice

A murderous aura!

Despite the freezing weather, Yan Yu’s back broke out in sweat and was drenched in an instant. It had never occurred to him that a murderous aura could be so intense. He felt as if he had sunk into a puddle of sticky liquid. The murderous aura made his hair stand on end and every pore contract. He was losing his mind!

Every bone in his body was so rigid that he couldn’t move. He had an illusion that this all-pervasive murderous aura was like a wild animal; at the slightest movement of his, it would devour him.

Yan Yu remained still, but a trace of panic flashed through his eyes. He was wearing a power shield and had to switch his card to fight. He knew that his opponent wouldn’t give him any chance to switch cards.

He had killed innumerable people and had rich experience in battle. As nervous as he was, he was able to be decisive. Not holding back, the energy within his apparatus surged up to his power shield at an amazing speed. In the darkness, Yan Yu’s power shield gleamed all of a sudden and radiated like a small sun!

The overwhelming murderous aura drew back at the same time. Wei-ah waited for this moment, then like a cheetah ambushing its prey, he leaped out abruptly.

Under the push of the formidable force, the thick ice that had formed on Wei-ah’s body cracked into numerous pieces and shot out in all directions. A shadow, like black lightning, vanished from under the pieces of ice. Nothing could compare to Wei-ah’s speed. He appeared as if out of thin air in front of Yan Yu.

The original light yellow power shield was switched into a rich gold colored power shield that was dazzling. The strong waves of energy emitted from the power shield were like a tsunami.

Yan Yu’s ability to act according to circumstances was marvelous. In order to fight for time, he had sacrificed the power shield card that had accompanied him for ten years. Having charged his power shield to the maximum, he had stronger protection than usual. However, it would cause irreversible damage to the card, which meant that the card would be useless after its final use.

Yan Yu’s plot was more complicated than that. The strong waves of energy would alarm all his team members. He was confident of his team members; every one of them was an experienced card artisan with strong fighting capabilities. Even if his brother was to fight his team, it would be hard to say if he could escape.

The only pity was the card! It was a four-star card and had been a gift from his teacher. However, the card had saved his life and was worth the sacrifice!

Facing life and death sparked the ferocity in Yan Yu. His eyes twinkled with brutality. This cursed attacker! I must cut him alive! he thought.

However, just as the idea came into his mind, he saw an unforgettable scene.

Bang! The sound of a heavy and massive crash made his blood boil. He was dumbstruck to see his power shield cracking. The crack was like a gigantic spider web, covering every part of his power shield. It looked like a cracked golden eggshell!

How is that possible?! he thought.

Yan Yu was bewildered by the cracked power shield in front of him. The power shield was fully powered and had been activated by his four-star card!

Yan Yu didn’t think that the power shield was enough to protect his safety. His opponent had been able to sneak in and had a terrifyingly murderous aura. He had to be a real ace, even stronger than him. Such an ace naturally had a way of dealing with a four-star power shield.

However, his power shield couldn’t withstand a blow from his opponent, let alone stall for time. This was far beyond his expectations!

Just when he was seized by terror, a seemingly ordinary fist appeared in front of him. Following that, his golden power shield shattered into pieces and shot into the sky. His power shield was completely disintegrated!

Fist? How could it have been a fist? He had imagined countless ways that his opponent would attack, through all kinds of energy forms. But he had never thought that it would be something as simple as a fist. That fist smashed the four-star power shield that he had powered up with all his might.

All the ferocity, courage, and tactics dissolved into nothingness in front of that punch! The only thing left intact was his instinct to survive!

Moving back in a flash, he didn’t care about the paralyzing driving force; he just increased the speed of his jet stream card to its maximum in an instant.

Fear! For the first time in his life, he feared for his life. He felt death. It was so near that he could feel the breath of the grim reaper. Run! He had to distance himself from his opponent in order to survive!

I have to survive! he thought. Yan Yu was screaming on the inside! All thoughts became simple in the face of death. His senses and thoughts were extremely clear, his perception control at an unprecedented level. At that moment, the manipulation of energy was easier than before.

Breakthrough? Is this a breakthrough? he thought. There was a sudden burst of ecstasy in his heart. The joy didn’t stem from breaking through, but from the joy of being able to survive! Everything around him was clearer than ever before, and the feeling was fascinating.

Suddenly, Yan Yu’s face showed signs of horror and dread. A palm, similar to any ordinary person’s palm, appeared less than two feet away from Yan Yu! This palm demanded Yan Yu’s full attention, as though it was under a spotlight.

An uncontrollable fear suddenly surged in Yan Yu. It was this fist that had smashed his power shield, but he was a little relieved that this palm was a few feet away from him. He started to accelerate. As long as he could maintain a little distance between them, the distance between him and this palm would just grow further and further.

He fixed his sights on the palm, extremely tense. He wondered if it was because of this tension that everything around him seemed to slow down.

He saw the palm lift up gently and then lightly chop down in an odd manner. “Gently” was the first word that popped into his mind. The attacker’s movements were very soft and weak. “Odd” was another immediate feeling of his. He was unable to describe the attack. Everything seemed to undergo complicated changes.

Every movement of this palm caused magnificent transformations in the surrounding jet stream. When the chopping movement was completed, a sword about eight inches long made from the jet stream was formed!

An air skill!

Yan Yu recovered from his shock. He thought of the skills that had been very popular not long ago.

Whoosh! The sound of explosions hadn’t died away. He felt like his chest was struck directly by a sword. Losing his balance, Yan Yu looked blankly at his surroundings, which were sweeping back speedily. He saw blood ooze out and instantaneously froze at the sight of red as lightning struck across the dark sky…

Bang! Yan Yu’s body flew far and fell onto the ground like a sandbag.

A series of changes happened so abruptly that no one could react in time. Wei-ah didn’t stop; he merely went forward to the side of Yan Yu’s corpse. Yan Yu’s eyes were still blankly open and had lost their shine. His eyes were lifeless and looking straight into the sky. Wei-ah’s palm waved gently. An Air Wave Blade emerged and cut Yan Yu’s neck accurately. Yan Yu was beheaded, his head separated from its body.

Wei-ah grabbed Yan Yu’s head, prepared to leave. He didn’t know who Yan Yu was or how to describe the team to Woody, so he had decided to bring his head over to Woody. Maybe Woody would recognize him.

At that moment, the other team members were in for a rude awakening. When they saw Yan Yu lying lifelessly on the ground, they were deeply astounded. Almost subconsciously, everyone immediately jumped onto Wei-ah!

Wei-ah glanced indifferently at the astounded card artisans. There wasn’t the slightest change in his expression. The darkness gave him the best cover. With his ghostly and fast moves, the card artisans were no match for him. The card artisans lost track of Wei-ah in an instant.

An average card artisan’s perception was sensitive to waves of energy fluctuation, but slow to react when facing physical objects. Only perceptions similar to Chen Mu’s and Caesar’s would allow them to have a stronger perception of physical objects, rather than waves of energy fluctuation. However, under the circumstances, Chen Mu had difficulty detecting Wei-ah’s existence. This had been very confusing for Chen Mu; he didn’t know what technique Wei-ah had used. His chances of finding a hidden Wei-ah were pitifully low.

In this chaotic and dark environment, the torrential rain and bitter cold were all Wei-ah’s comrades. Air Wave Blade could exert its maximum power under such circumstance. The power shields of these card artisans were often destroyed with one punch. Wei-ah wouldn’t stay long to fight. Even if he missed his target, he would leave at once.

Power shields were shattering, and they looked like fireworks in the dark, accompanied with the rise and fall of endless screams. Card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force couldn’t detect their opponent. All they could see were their comrades’ power shields breaking with endless cries! Moreover, they couldn’t figure which part of their power shields were being attacked. Their opponent’s speed was simply as fast as lightning.

They couldn’t find their opponent and were passive targets. Nothing was worse than this, for they were like lambs awaiting slaughter.

“Attention everyone, remove your power shield and get ready for battle!” A prestigious card artisan in the military grit his teeth and yelled, “Everyone—” His voice stopped abruptly.

The army was in even greater panic! There was zero unity, and the card artisans had no idea what to do! They were live targets if they had their power shields on. If they removed their power shields, they would lose their last bit of self-protection.

Wei-ah was like a grim reaper, harvesting card artisans’ lives in a systematic manner. With Yan Yu’s head in his left hand, his right hand attacked as sharply as ever. His speed hadn’t slowed.

Ever since his attack, within three minutes, 211 card artisans had died by his hands. This was equivalent to killing one card artisan from the Cang Jiang Military Force in a second. From another perspective, the Cang Jiang Military Force had lost five percent of their total strength.

The killing spree was ongoing, and there wasn’t a single crack in Wei-ah’s indifferent expression. He was efficient in his killing, like a lion entering a flock of sheep. He calmly hunted and killed.

Time was passing, and the smell of blood in the air was so pungent that it clogged their noses. It was a living hell.

The fear the Cang Jiang Military Force experienced didn’t alleviate in the slightest; it just grew stronger. They watched their comrades’ defeat, but they couldn’t even spot their enemy’s shadow. They didn’t even know the numbers of their enemies.

Despair and panic spread rapidly. Between the thick dark clouds, lightning flashed and thunder roared; showcasing the potential damage that was about to happen.

A number of card artisans couldn’t help but fly towards the sky. All they wanted was to escape from this hell! However, when they were only 65 feet high in the sky, they were mercilessly struck by lightning! Struck down by the white rays of lightning, their power shields couldn’t last for even a second. These card artisans didn’t even have time to let out cries. They were burnt black and fell to the ground.

Even God was helping the enemy!

If it had been an ordinary army, they would have completely collapsed. However, the Cang Jiang Military Force was the first army of the Underworld, and their tenacity surprised Wei-ah.

Wei-ah had been attacking for the past seven minutes. Five hundred and forty-one card artisans had died at his hands. Within seven minutes, the Cang Jiang Military Force had lost their chief commander and ten percent of their total strength.

Finally, one card artisan saved the army. He removed his power shield and endured the chill of the freezing rain. While shivering, he switched to an illumination card. When the light shone across their heads and lit up 30 feet of the open space, the other card artisans realized what they had to do!

“First squad! Use your illumination cards!” The squad leader of the first squad exhausted all his strength to deliver his command.

The leader of the second squad was quick to react, too. He yelled, “Second squad, prepare for battle! Attack any suspicious targets!”

The other squad leaders gave the same instructions.

Wei-ah knew it was time for him to retreat. Without a moment of hesitation, he left.

Numerous light balls floated into the sky. A thousand illumination cards were in use, and the light emitted was sufficient to see the entire base camp clearly.

The card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force saw one of the most unforgettable scenes of their lives.

The base camp of the Cang Jiang Military Force was a mess. They had their eyes moving wildly, searching around, but they didn’t find any enemies. There were only corpses on the ground, and they had long frozen into ice. The scars on each corpse were uniform—only one tiny wound, like the one left by blade energy.

All that was left of Yan Yu was a headless corpse!