Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The black cat stiffened when it noticed Lu Ming.
It then flung its head as if nothing had happened, abandoning the Original Card to the side, licking its smooth and clean fur. It stretched before falling asleep lazily.
Was it treating him like a blind man?
There was no use in pretending.
He stretched his hands and the Original Card appeared in his hands. The crack on the card seemed to be deeper.
It was no wonder the Lightning Original Card that tested and performed well previously seemed strange without an apparent reason! It was no wonder that the crack on the Original Card seemed to have gotten worse!
“Brother cat?”
Lu Ming gave a deep sigh.
Black cat: “…”
It seemed to have fallen asleep.
“Well…”
Lu Ming felt sad. “Let me say this in advance, I don’t mind that you want to grind your teeth. But if my Original Card is spoiled… both of us will be in deep shit.”
“Meow!”
The black shadow flashed in front of him.
The Original Card in Lu Ming’s hands disappeared.
Grunt!
Grunt!
It was gnawing on it again.
It had obviously heard Lu Ming’s words. Therefore, it must have purred, saying: There was no need to worry, it would certainly not be spoilt…
Perhaps, maybe, probably?!
He could only interpret it that way.
Since it would not be spoiled, he could not be bothered with it.
After all, the Original Card would be in his Sea of Consciousness most of the time and it would be beside the black cat. He could not possibly stare at it twenty-four hours a day.
Furthermore…
When the black cat ground its teeth, it seemed to infuse some special power in it. This was why there was the Lightning Original Card!
Lu Ming was deep in his thoughts.
Hopefully…
There would be no more surprises.
Seeing that the black cat seemed addicted to grinding its teeth, he had no other choice but to leave his Sea of Consciousness.
Back to reality.
Lu Ming opened the shop.
Today he had some other things to do.
…
Outside the shop.
There was a big crowd.
Lu Ming flipped open the notebook to check the record on it—he was waiting for the person who was ranked first in the Fruit Ninja. He had lasted the longest time in the Fruit Ninja!
The person who lasted the longest in seven days would be awarded with ten thousand yuan.
He had promised to give the award right from the start.
Therefore, Lu Ming had set the ten thousand yuan aside.
However, he was surprised that the sky had darkened and the lights were lit, but the person had yet to show up.
“Decided to give up?”
Lu Ming was surprised.
Ten thousand yuan was no small amount to ordinary folks.
Right then…
Footsteps could be heard from outside the door. A person with a peaked cap appeared. The voice was hoarse. “Hello, I am here to get collect the Fruit Ninja award.”
“Sure.”
Lu Ming smiled. “I have waited a long time for you. Can you let me know the number that you have left behind previously?”
The figure gave the number.
Lu Ming verified the number before asking the person to sign. “Please sign here.”
The figure walked forward, lowered his head and signed on the book.
Something was not right.
Lu Ming squinted.
This guy…
He did not catch a glimpse of the person’s face at all. Although the person put on a peaked cap and lowered their head, it was impossible for the person’s face to be completely hidden from him!
However…
There seemed to be a haze blocking him.
Furthermore…
It was in the middle of the night and the person hung the head while wearing a cap.
It was very quirky.
It should not be the case. The person was here to receive the Fruit Ninja reward. He was not visiting some club, why would he be so secretive? Moreover, he remembered that the man had persisted for three hundred seconds. His reaction speed was amazing. He should be those cultivators who had excellent reaction speed.
From the shape of his body, something did not seem right…
Well…
The more he thought about it, the more Lu Ming found that something was amiss.
At this very moment…
The figure signed the book, took the stack of money and was about to leave.
Bang!
Lu Ming placed one hand on the money.
“Yes?”
The figure spoke in a cold and hoarse voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Lu Ming smiled at him. “Please wait a minute.”
“What for?”
The figure seemed anxious. “I’m in a hurry.”
“Hehe.”
Lu Ming smiled. “In order to prevent the wrong person from getting the award, we need to verify your identity. I will make a phone call to your number right now. Please wait a minute.”
“It’s such a bother!”
The figure was impatient. “It was only ten thousand yuan. Why is this so troublesome? I don’t want the money anymore.”
Upon finishing his words…
He turned to leave.
“Hehe.” Lu Ming sneered. He rushed forward and pressed him to the ground. Sure enough, the cap on the head of the figure was thrown aside, revealing a familiar face.
“Ahhh—”
There was a loud shrill. “Bro! Bro, I am wrong! Brother Lu, easy! That’s painful.”
“You have decided to behave yourself?”
Lu Ming kicked him again.
“Bro, I am really sorry!”
Zhang Xiaopang squatted pitifully on the ground.
That was right!
He was the kind of person who would falsely claim the first prize award as his own!
Lu Ming remembered that on the day where Fruit Ninja was very popular, Fatty Zhang would occasionally drop by to join in the fun. He did not expect that he would remember the number and to behave in such a manner.
“Hehe.”
Lu Ming looked nonchalant. “You are quite capable.”
“Well…”
Zhang Xiaopang felt embarrassed, smiling dryly twice. “Brother Lu, look, no one came to collect the prize. That was why I am thinking it should not be wasted.”
“Hehe.”
Lu Ming sneered.
Even if no one collected it, the money was his. What did he mean by being wasted?! He obviously had a plan in mind long ago.
“How did you know he was not coming?”
Lu Ming stared at Zhang Xiaopang.
“I could tell long ago.”
Zhang Xiaopang smiled. “The guy was not old and he had a good temperament. One look and I knew that he was no ordinary man. He did not look like a local. He must have passed by Qing Ming City that day and was curious about Fruit Ninja, and hence he participated in the game. Therefore, I made a mental note of his number.”
“And you waited to see if he would come. Since he did not turn up, you decided to collect the money?”
Lu Ming was calm and composed.
“Hehe.”
Zhang Xiaopang smiled dryly twice.
“Scram!”
Lu Ming did not know whether he should smile or cry.
Today, he especially took time off so that he could pass the award to the person. To his surprise, the person did not come, instead Zhang Xiaopang came up with such a show.
“Ahem, see you later.”
Zhang Xiaopang left hurriedly.
“What a…”
Lu Ming was speechless.
This guy was indeed ‘amazing’.
He shook his head, getting ready to close the door. But he saw the peaked cap on the ground. Huh, why didn’t Zhang Xiaopang bring this with him when he left?
“This cap…”
Lu Ming put on the cap curiously.
Buzz—
There was a flash of radiant energy.
Lu Ming felt as if he was covered by a layer of energy. He became shrouded in mist. There were slight changes to his figure and facial features.
The energy consumption was very low.
“Interesting.”
Lu Ming was deep in his thoughts.
In the card creating process of a Card Creator, the card was just a carrier. There were other vocations that could use other things as a carrier.
For example…
This cap.
It had become an object with a hidden ability.
It was no wonder Zhang Xiaopang was daring enough to wear the cap to swindle. It was a pity that he had a large figure. It was impossible for people who knew him to not see through his act.
As to why he left it…
Perhaps he felt that it was useless or that he was in a hurry to leave and he did not dare to come back to take the cap?
Lu Ming felt funny.
Forget it.
He could pass it to him when he dropped by the next time.
…
It was very late at night.
Lu Ming closed the shop.
He activated all the different anti-theft measures before he continued with his study of the mysterious card.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Lu Ming looked serious as he continued to draw the card.
One could tell how strong one’s foundation was from the drawing of the basic lines. That was why the older generation of Card Creators despised him, who was the founder of Fruit Ninja.
That was because the lines that he drew were too shoddy!
What did he mean by shoddy?
Just like the handwriting that was slightly scribbled and ugly, as long as one could recognize the words, one did not really care if the handwriting followed certain conventions and specifications.
This was the lowest level of card creation!
Such shoddy drawing could go wrong easily.
The lines that they drew would revolve and work through the energy. Therefore, if the lines were not of a certain standard, it would eventually affect the effectiveness of the card.
One might not be able to tell from one line. What about one hundred lines?
One thousand lines?
Sometimes one could not find the reason to one’s failure!
Therefore, the foundation was particularly important to Card Creators.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The room was silent except for the sounds made by the pen.
85%…
90%…
95%…
Lu Ming was constantly learning to draw lines.
Initially, his lines were scribbled and messy. But right now, his lines became clean and simple. Therefore, he found it easy to learn the remaining 20% of the lines.
Very soon…
He would be able to master the lines via a comprehensive study of them.
He had finally familiarized himself with the three hundred lines.
“I have mastered it.”
Lu Ming felt satisfied.
He was very proud of his progress this past few days.
Although he did not increase his energy level, through continuous learning and drawing, he was able to make up for the shortcomings of having a weak foundation.
He tried to draw Fruit Ninja again.
It was the same card, the same design plan, and the card that was drawn seemed similar in terms of its function. But only he knew that after mastering the three hundred basic lines, he had exceptional control of the energy and the benefits of that was…
He was able to draw the lines at a faster speed!
He was able to use the time that he took to draw a card previously to draw three cards!
His speed was amazing!
“In that case…
I will be able to create more cards during the internship,” Lu Ming analyzed calmly.
In that case…
The next step was to increase the speed of cultivation.
Lu Ming rested his eyes on this special mysterious card. As a card that had a high difficulty level, it should be able to bring about an alarming increase in cultivation speed.
“Come on.”
Lu Ming took a deep breath.
The first attempt to create the mysterious card.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Lu Ming put the pen to the card again.
Since he had already practiced countless times, the drawing process was smoother than he had imagined. After failing once due to trembling of his hands, he was able to draw it perfectly on his second attempt.
He only took one hour to complete it.
Buzz—
It was accompanied by a touch of radiance.
Lu Ming created the card successfully.
The back of the card turned dark. One could vaguely see visible lines on it. The front of the card was a vague virtual figure of a beast.
This was a special one-start card.
Lu Ming sensed that the energy requirement was as high as three hundred points!
Of course.
This was not the point.
Lu Ming was thrilled that while he created the card, the energy flow was smooth and natural, and it was very active. He could feel that his energy level was being increased.
He had increased from sixty-three points to sixty-four points!
It was awesome!
“Very powerful.”
Lu Ming was amazed.
His energy level only increased to sixty-three points this morning. The cultivation speed of this card was so much higher than the Fruit Ninja!
This was the Cultivation Card that he wanted!
Of course.
Although this card was strong enough, he could only use it as a Cultivation Card. It required an energy level of three hundred points. Therefore Lu Ming was not qualified to use it!
“Should I try the effect?”
Lu Ming had the urge to try it out.
Although he could not activate it by himself, he could activate it with the help of the Activator as well as the Energy Card. By then, he could see for himself the effect of this card.
But when he thought about it…
Lu Ming gave up on the idea. It was too much of a waste.
Because there was no need for it at all!
The Card Activator was too bulky, it was inconvenient to carry it around.
If he relied on his own efforts, there was no way that he could reach three hundred points of energy level. Since that was the case, it was better that he kept the Energy Card and perhaps he could increase his cultivation speed during cultivation.
Although he could recycle the energy if he extracted the Energy Ores from the ruins to create Energy Cards, it was not very efficient.
Lu Ming would be able to increase his cultivation speed with the increase of Energy Cards!
For him, creating the mysterious card would be able to help him to increase his cultivation speed.
“With this card…”
There was a sparkle in Lu Ming’s eyes. He was looking forward to the internship.
Of course.
Before that, he had to be well-prepared.
For example, the name of the mysterious card.
Although he could not test the card, he could probably guess its effect.
He thought hard about it before he took out a white label and pasted it on top right corner of the mysterious card, writing a very appropriate name for it—
“Rampaging Bulls Encirclement”!
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