The Card Apprentice

Andre’s breathing was deep and ragged. His breath was coming in gasps. His shirt was drenched in blood, torn, and tattered.

Looking at Kunya, who he had hacked, dying on the ground, his heart filled with the pleasure of vengeance. The old grudge that had lingered in him finally dissipated. He had never felt so relaxed. Even the many injuries on him could not halt this pleasure. He wanted to yell but did not have the strength. His shield was thrown aside, and he sat on the floor, gasping for air.

Kunya was stronger than him. He could only tie with Kunya with all of his efforts. Had Kunya not made that fatal mistake all of a sudden, he would not have won. Kunya’s final blow injured him, even after he exploited that mistake of Kunya.

The three wounds on his chest were so deep that his bones were showing. The blood flowing out from his injuries dyed his clothes red. However, he did not seem to care at all. The loss of blood and exhaustion made him a little dizzy.

It’s so quiet! Why is it so quiet? He opened his eyes stubbornly, and his body froze instantly.

Looking at the corpses lying everywhere, he was stunned, and his mind was blank. When he was fighting Kunya, he was focused and did not realize what was happening around him. But he could vaguely hear some shoutings of the Sword and Shield Sect. He did not think about it when he was focusing on the combat, but now he realized what had happened.

After some time, he snapped out of it. He closed his eyes in pain. Although the Sword and Shield Sect had long banished him, he did have feelings for the people. The people who drenched in pools of blood in front of him were all his brothers!

“This is for you.” Chen Mu threw the Lotus Leaf Shield to Andre.

Andre looked at the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him, startled and still, he did not pick it up. The people around him all had their eyes focused on the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him. Their scorching and greedy looks had raised the air temperature again. However, nobody dared to make a move this time. Chen Mu’s insidious act had scarred them.

“Let’s go, leave this place and build your own sect in the future.” Chen Mu understood what Andre was thinking.

“Thinking of running?” A raging voice suddenly came from outside the door, “After killing so many of our Sword and Shield Sect members, you still think that you could walk away?”

An old man with white hair and beard, holding a Lotus Leaf Shield in his hand, entered slowly with steady steps. Behind him were other flexsters with different kinds of shields steadily entering as well. The Sword and Shield Sect flexsters of Aguda City had all been deployed.

The old man showed a slight sadness upon looking at the corpses of Sword and Shield Sect flexters all over the place. He quickly regained his calmness, but his murderous aura thickened.

Chen Mu was startled. The old man was still able to keep his calm upon seeing so many of his students dead. His composure alone showed everyone that he above the average elites. Veins were visible in his eyes under his white hair, and his expression was monstrous.

Zara said nothing. Her body shifted and appeared beside Chen Mu. She lowered her head and focused on untying all the different colored ribbons on her wrist as though no one was there.

Chen Mu inserted the Golden Ring Woodspear into the ground. Half of the Golden Ring Woodspear was inserted into the solid floor, as if it was tofu.

All the Sword and Shield Sect flexsters were startled. The Golden Ring Woodspear was far sharper than they imagined. Even the lightest brush of a weapon this sharp could severely injure someone, if not outright killing them. However, their expressions immediately displayed their suspicions. Is he not planning on using a weapon this powerful?

The old man squinted his eyes. The young man in front of him was exerting on him a pressure he had never felt before—a fierce, stone-cold, and potent murderous aura. He had encountered such a unique aura when he was young. Once, he was faced with a strong animal while training in the deep part of the Hundred Depths. He was severely wounded, but he managed to escape from that beast. The feeling he got from the man was identical to that horrifying beast.

If he did not see him with his own eyes, he would not have believed such a person existed in the world! Fear was engraved in his heart!

* * *

At the residence of the City Master.

Mose, the City Master, and a man with eagle eyes were sitting across a table. Behind Mose stood several silent flexsters.

Mose was podgy, and he sat there like a hill made out of flesh. The smile he drew on his face seemed friendly. He raised the cup in his hand, with the broadest smile in the world on his face, and said, “I am a loyal worshipper of Master Hedrat myself. Back in those years, the royalties of the Xishan Clan was so arrogant that, even I was mistreated by them many times. However, in the presence of Master Hedrat, ha, they were like dust! A single blow and they were gone. That was something respectable!”

The man with eagle eyes sat straight. Even with the smile drawn on his face, his eyes behind the cups were still as sharp as they were keen. “Lord Mose is quite a hero yourself. Just look at how prosperous Aguda City is, one would know that the City Master must be a genius himself.”

“Thank you for your kind compliment, Commander Hazak, but my work shies in comparison to what Master Hedrat had accomplished.” Mose cracked up.

“Oh, Lord Mose, you are such a humble man.” the smile on Hazak’s face grew wider. But his eyes were not smiling; instead, they were still as sharp as a blade. “Taking control of seven cities before anyone in the world was aware. Whenever Master Hedrat talked about your ruthless act, he is always full of praise.”

Mose’s expression changed slightly, and he forced a smile. “Oh? It’s such an honor to be praised by Master Hedrat. I’m afraid that I won’t sleep tonight because of how excited I am.” He changed the topic, his face full of worry. “Is Master Hedrat doing well recently? Lately, it has been full of the rumor that Master Hedrat has not recovered from his injury, yet, and this makes me anxious. Not long ago, I purchased some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungi. They are very effective in treating old wounds. If it is required, please let me know.”

Hazak smiled calmly. “Thank you for your kindness. It’s just that Master Hedrat prefers to be undisturbed and, hence, he seldom goes out. Some fools must’ve spread such a rumor, Haha!”

“Oh, excellent, excellent.” Relief appeared on Mose’s face, and he raised his cup. “Let’s have a toast for Master Hedrat’s health.”

“Cheers!” Hazak emptied his cup at one go.

At that moment, someone walked into them abruptly. It was Bunge, who had just returned from the arena. He whispered to Mose’s ear. Hazak glimpsed at Bunge and returned to drinking the wine in his cup nonchalantly without saying anything.

“Oh! This person can kill Fayes?” It was heart-rending for Mose.

“Yes.” there was still a slight fear left in on Bunge’s face.

“Even Gammick has moved out?” Mose expression turned heavy.

“Yes! On the way returning here, I’ve seen Sect Leader Gamick himself leading hundreds of people rushing towards the direction of the arena,” Bunge answered gravely.

Mose raised his eyebrows. “Do we know where these two people come from?”

“I suspect that these two are very likely to be the rumored culprits that came from the Hundred Depths.”

“Is it the man and woman that slew the Nine-tails, the pair that possessed many ultimate weapons?” Hazak interjected abruptly.

Bunge took a look at Mose. He only replied after seeing Mose nodded, “They are similar.”

Hazak, feeling competitive, stood up suddenly. “It would be a shame to pass the chance to compete with these elites. Is Lord Mose interested in having a look together? Just to look at how powerful these legendary supervillains are!”

Mose hesitated for a while. Then, he immediately laughed and stood up. “If the Commander insists so, can I even decline?”

The air in the arena was so heavy that it was almost frozen. The spectating flexsters were both excited and afraid. Though people died every day in the arena, no one had seen such a spectacle before. Chen Mu and Zara stood there calmly. Facing such a colossal sect by the two of them alone, they have impressed everyone in there.

The spectating flexsters were not showing a sign of sympathy on any of their faces towards the Sword and Shield Sect flexsters lying in pools of blood. That was the difference between the House of a Hundred Depths and the Federation.

There were legal limitations in the Federation. Although the law of the Federation became nothing more than a piece of paper when the Big Six started the chaotic war, the longtime peace kept the moral compass in everyone’s heart somewhat intact.

The House of a Hundred Depths, however, was always in a state of a chaotic war. They only worshiped power, exceptional power. Moral was seldom within their consideration. In the eyes of the people from the House of a Hundred Depths, there was no sympathy for the death of weaklings. The House of a Hundred Depths was a place where only the strong could live.

All of these had nothing much to do with Chen Mu. He was staring at the old man with full focus. In the last two years, the combat instinct that he formed under the most savage environment could not compare to anything in the Federation. Fighting and death were ordinary in his eyes.

Chen Mu did not decide to become apathetic himself. It also had nothing to do with his likes and dislikes. His strong combat instinct allowed him to clear out his thoughts and focus. He threw all the stuff on him onto the ground. He ignored all these priceless items. He needed to treat this fight seriously. He naturally lowered both of his hands that were wearing metallic power gloves. He looked like a completely relaxed bow.

“Throw your shields!” a flexster behind the old man shouted abruptly.

Countless shrill piercing cries filled the air even before he could finish his words!

Hundreds of small bladed shields flew towards Chen Mu and Zara from all directions in astonishingly high speeds! A small bladed-shield had a diameter of around 10 centimeters and a very sharp edge. The method that these Sword and Shield Sect flexsters threw them was unique. They drew power from both their waists and abdomens and tilted their bodies. Their right arms swung like ropes with surprising elasticity and threw out the small bladed shields on their right arms violently!

All the small bladed shields were thrown spinning at high speeds. Their speed was shockingly fast. Every single one of the small bladed-shield was shining with a red light on its edge!

With hundreds of people throwing the small bladed shields at the same time, the red lights were blinking on all the edges of the shields. It was like magma that had erupted from a volcano!

One would think that the sect leader of the shield blade sect would fight the pair in a duel. However, he had no intention in doing so; he just wanted to kill them!

Andre’s face was pale from the shock!

As someone from the Sword and Shield Sect, he was very familiar with this move. The Single Arm Throw was a technique that every Sword and Shield Sect flexster had to learn. It was also one of the very few long-range attacks that the Sword and Shield Sect had. But if 20 people used it at one, the power of this move would be increased exponentially. The more people throwing together, the more variations this attack would have. Hence, the more powerful it’ll be!

Having been in the sect for so many years, he had never seen over 300 people using this attack in unison! Andre’s heart suddenly sank into its deepest depths. He closed his eyes desperately.