The Card Apprentice

The power-cards they produced were beyond Chen Mu’s imagination, making it difficult for Chen Mu to identify the number of the stars on the power-cards. However, he was able to quickly set aside this technical question as there was no use to spend his time here pondering on these questions.

It was a better option for him to spend his time on the training.

The power of the power-cards had exceeded his expectations. He probably would not need to worry about finishing the power-card for a long period of time. Meanwhile, he could focus on returning to his normal training routines. Previously, he had to forego his regular training because of the lack of power-card, as training required the consumption of the energy form. He could only do the practices of the careless sect. However, Wei-ah was not around, yet the demonic woman’s training method was not suitable for his physique.

His Airskill, which standard was only slightly above average, was barely sufficient to stun the card artisans. Worse, if he were to apply his Airskill on the feral and ferocious beasts, it would scarcely give them a tickle. Chen Mu had once tried to attack the Thorny Rhino with his sharp Air Slash. That did not even leave a white mark on the body of the Thorny Rhino.

The demonic woman was being very blunt as she told Chen Mu that his performance was lacklustre. If this happened on Wei-ah, she believed that there would not be much issue. This remark was very hurtful, but it had not deflated Chen Mu’s morale. In his mind, Wei-ah had long been an invincible figure. Moreover, by relying on his intellect, both of them had managed to grind the Prickly Bone Rhino to death. That incident had kept him pumped for a very long time.

As their group was small, they were less flexible in terms of their tactics. Despite that, Chen Mu managed to discover the value of their tactics.

If one had never applied his or her knowledge practically, one would most probably fail to recall the knowledge during crucial and dangerous times.

The demonic woman was never a pretentious woman. Knowing that this was not her forte, she made a wise choice to leave the leader’s role to Chen Mu and acted as his assistant most of the time.

Completing the power-card had put Chen Mu in good mood as the main problem had now been solved. At the House of a Hundred Depths, one had to fight in order to survive. Resources here were extremely limited, hence, all the living things struggled to survive. The fight for survival amongst them were exceptionally brutal.

A thought flashed across his head. He said to the demonic woman, “Show me your Painted Graphistemma.”

Confused, the demonic woman looked at him, but nevertheless passed the Painted Graphistemma to Chen Mu. After several days of comradeship, an unspoken trust had developed between the two of them.

After Chen Mu took over the Painted Graphistemma, he began to study it using his perception. Over the past few days, he had gradually grown familiar with his perception and was able to use it more smoothly. This time, his perception had provided him with many new discoveries. There were innumerable tiny little veins within the Painted Graphistemma. Coupled with the demonic woman’s previous enhancement, the closely packed veins had become more apparent.

Indeed, it was a natural Card Appliance!

Those intricate network of veins formed a natural pattern on the Painted Graphistemma. It contained a peculiar and strange source of energy that probably fueled by its own power, just the role of a power-card to Card Appliance. The way the demonic woman used the Painted Graphistemma consumed minimal energy, which subsequently expanded its lifespan.

As for natural Card Appliances like the Painted Graphistemma, it was difficult for Chen Mu to modify its structure. He was unable to rectify the intricate web of veins within it. Maybe he would come up with a solution in the future, but currently he had no choice but to let it slide.

He returned the Painted Graphistemma to the demonic woman.

Ten days later.

“We need to leave now,” said Chen Mu.

The demonic woman agreed. They had already consumed every edible thing for the past few days. They were only left with the Shadow Bee that were impossible and had little meat. Furthermore, these creatures, out of their fear toward the both of them, were being exceptionally vigilant.

Both of them were very cautious with their actions. They prepared a sheer volume of clear water, together with all the materials that Chen Mu thought might come in handy. They made especially slow advances, thinking that it was better to be safe than sorry in a place full of danger.

They continued to search for a new base camp, worked hard to survive and stole food from other living creatures. Their lives were boring and monotonous. Each and everyday day they had to face the crudest and most primitive of battle and slaughter. They saw no fruit to their hard work.

The extended plains were overwhelmed by eternal gray. There was no way one could see the border of it.

Bogner’s pupils were unfocused. He spent his days stared blankly at the unfruitful horizon through the window, which had later turned into his habit.

Being the main person in charge of Eastern Wei Base, he was supposed to return to the Eastern Wei Base to manage all kinds of affairs. However, he refused to leave the Big Crack Base regardlessly and opted to stay at the ash stratum. His mind was so firm that Xi Ping and the others were not able to persuade him. Due to his personal supervision at the Big Crack Base, their infrastructure development had progressed rapidly. Today the Big Crack Base had become an inseparable part of the Eastern Wei Base, as it had been continuously supplying the latter with various rare materials. This greatly promoted development of the Eastern Wei Base over the years.

Moreover, the Big Crack Base was also the most important training ground for the Eastern Wei Base. In the future, the training of the team members would be conducted here.

After two years of development, the Eastern Wei Base had become a new rising force. People normally regarded them as the “Eastern Wei”. For years, the Eastern Wei had been keeping a low profile, but no one had the audacity to doubt its power. The Hunters that were formed by the members of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had especially acquired a reputation. Compared to the newly founded Tang Camp under Tang Hanpei’s leadership which used the same Power Gloves as their main weapon, the Hunters were more influential.

The situation at the Heavenly Federation had not improved over the past two years. Instead, the chaos had got more immense. The two tyrants, namely Tang Hanpei and Su Heiming, were still powerful and ruthless as ever. However, the alliance of the four of the Big Six with Faya perfectly stopped the two of them. The battle between military forces had grown increasingly intense. The two great Military Force from the Desert Camp and the First Military Force of Wei Yueqing were combinedly blitz by an alliance of other military forces. The blood shed during the war was way more than everyone’s expectations.

According to unofficial data, about 75 cities were eliminated from the map within two years, including six large cities, not to mention the high death toll.

The Five flourishing districts, which everyone once hankered after, had now turned into a slaughterhouse. Citizens that were terrified and ridden with despair had quickly fled from the flourishing districts and formed a beeline towards the common residential district. There were also card artisan team among those who escaped. There was no way for the card artisans, who came from the flourishing districts, to succumb to the countrymen whom they used to despise.

Their arrival intensified the tension at the common residential district.

Compared to other places, the Eastern Wei Base could well be deemed as a safe haven. Today, many people had visited the base out of admiration. However, the base was not able to accommodate the sheer amount of residential applications despite the size of their territory had grown 25 fold. Therefore, the superior powers of Eastern Wei had decided to deploy the Wood Battalion to clean up their city’s adjacent areas to a larger no-man’s zone.

Those who did not manage to secure a residential right had voluntarily settled at the no-man’s zone. The Eastern Wei never interfered with their daily lives, leaving the people to manage and organize their own place. But administratively, that region was subordinated to the Eastern Wei Base. The organic emergence of such cities and townships had since been known as the Satellite City.

Due to the city’s reputation for their good safety, the Eastern Shang-Wei City moved forward to becoming the Heavenly Federation’s busiest city, to which its surface area had increased ten-fold. The city owned the biggest trading market in the entire Heavenly Federation, making it a heaven for card masters and Card Appliance Specialists. In this place, the stature of the Card Appliance Specialists was not second to the card masters. This attracted the arrival of many Card Appliance Specialists.

The Eastern Wei Base had flourished tremendously. It was only normal for it to be overwhelmed by jealousy from the outsiders.

But the Eastern Wei Base proved their abilities by their actions. The Wood Battalion and the Hunters went through some 20 rounds of battle within these two years with zero defeat, menacing those who were coveting.

A few black dots entered Bogner’s field of vision. These dots moved at extremely high speed. In the blink of an eye, they appeared before the base’s entrance. Without the need to guess, Bogner knew it was Wei-ah and his company. For the past two years, Wei-ah often left the base, bringing along Little Bu Mo, Sue, Yangshan Fei. It was normal for them to disappear for a good few days and Wei-ah would always return with hauls, such as a Card Insertion. Nobody ever knew where they went, neither had Wei-ah ever revealed their whereabouts. The credit to the successful transformation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team went to Wei-ah’s efforts of bringing in the Card Insertion from every trip.

Although no one knew the origin of the Card Insertion, everyone was very used to Wei-ah’s frequent disappearance.

“We’re finally back,” Yangshan Fei moaned out of satisfaction the moment he arrived at his room, relieved.

Sue dusted her head. Her dark golden mask was also tainted with a thin layer of dust. She smiled half-heartedly and said, “I can finally take a shower. The past few days were torturing.”

“Shower?” Yangshan Fei muttered, “I only want to sleep soundly. Wei-ah is such a sicko! Great. Now, Little Bu Mo has also turned into a freak. They do not seem to feel tired at all even after such a long trip!”

“Wei-ah, that sicko…” Even Sue who was always well mannered to everybody could not help but curse as well.

“Haha!” Yangshan Fei blanked out for a second before he stared at Sue as if she was an alien. Abruptly, he burst out laughing, “Haha! Who would’ve thought that you would curse too!”

Sue froze the movement on her hand and proceeded to laugh along.

The volume of their laughter gradually decreased. After a while, it finally ceased.

“Sue, when do you think we can leave this place?” Yangshan Fei suddenly lifted his head and asked.

Sue heaved a faint sigh and answered, “Unless Chen Mu comes back, otherwise Wei-ah will never allow us to leave this place.”

“Godd*mn Wei-ah!” Yangshan Fei grunted. Ever since Chen Mu vanished within the storm, Wei-ah would make it a point to bring two companions when he was going for a long trip. Every time they met his apathetic gaze, they felt a chill down their spines. There was once where Yangshan Fei was driven up the wall and refused to follow. Consequently, he almost got himself killed by Wei-ah. Ever since then, they would submit to any of his requests.

In actual fact, as Chen Mu was not around, they understood that their presence at the Big Crack Base was a significant security risk for the base. That was why Wei-ah made sure to bring them along during all his trips, to ensure that the both of them would not create any emergency situations when he was away.

However, going out with Wei-ah was not a happy sport. Wei-ah resembled a robot, never feeling tired. He was able to travel days and nights without resting. In fact, this seemed but an everyday routine for him. Even if they were merely flying behind him, both of them had suffered tremendously. Back then, Wei-ah would slow down his pace out of worry for Little Bu Mo’s unremarkable stamina. However, now that Little Bu Mo had picked up and was able to slowly adapt to Wei-ah’s fanatic mode. Little Bu Mo’s unstoppable energy had caused Sue and Yangshan Fei’s situation to deteriorate sharply.

Both of them fell into silence again.