The Card Apprentice

After returning to the base and bringing along five card masters who were good at processing materials and compounding, he turned everything over to Ru Qiu. That was a great relief to her work pressure.

The card masters were worthy of their titles in materials processing and compounding, after all. Each of them was frighteningly efficient, with two of them even more efficient than Ru Qiu. The five combined had still scarier production capacity. They finished 200 bottles of card ink on the first day.

They were like regulars regarding the price of the materials. After a little calculation, they were astonished to find they had made 1 billion Oudi worth of card ink!

Where would those card masters ever have such luxury? To be able to prepare 1 billion worth of card ink the first day after moving in wasn’t something they would have dared to believe before. That also gave them a direct sense of their new boss’s strong financial resources. They were endlessly excited and full of confidence about their futures.

If they could go forward like that and later specialize in materials processing and compounding, they would certainly be able to get still higher-level titles. They would never have to worry again about having food to eat.

They had never been the pride among card masters. They had always previously been someone’s assistant, which had led to their unbalanced skill structure of being good at only processing and compounding materials. Even though what they were doing just then was essentially no different from what they had done before, the materials they were handling were of a far higher grade. That would be a big help in the growth of their skills.

Since they had gone through many setbacks and knew the ups and downs of life, they were very realistic. Even though Ru Qiu was smaller than any of them, they weren’t the least bit unsatisfied. They knew the opportunity in front of them was hard to get, and they worked extremely hard, hoping to master as many skills as possible.

Their incredible diligence directly led to their production of card ink soaring! From 200 bottles the first day, it went to 250 the second day and reached a stunning 300 bottles by the third day!

Xi Ping was in a state every day as he watched more than 1 billion Oudi being consumed. Those few billions he had on hand would quickly be used up. The more than 180 billion from Qiao Fei couldn’t even be counted on after a little while. It was a good thing they’d just completed the first order for the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, for which Xi Ping had received 70 billion.

It’s burning… burning…

Xi Ping would be muttering every day as though he were crazy. They were spending money faster than they could have burned it.

Because they had to consume a great quantity of materials each day, Xi Ping had no choice but to go to the First-Rate Business Association to buy large quantities of materials. Mr. Stinger’s old face had blossomed into a smile. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had transformed overnight from being one of their suppliers to becoming their biggest customer in the Pascal District. Why wouldn’t he be beaming?

Batch after batch of materials ordered by the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm were flowing in a steady stream to the ravine.

Chen Mu had no way to be as relaxed as he had been those previous few days. With 200 or 300 bottles of card ink per day, there was a terrifying amount of work to do as far as he was concerned. He made a rough calculation that he needed to work at least 20 hours per day to be able to use up all the ink.

The card ink was 5 million Oudi per bottle. If he didn’t use it the same day, it would go bad, which would mean the 5 million Oudi would all have been wasted. When he thought of 5 million, Chen Mu’s eyes went red! How much could he earn making one-star power cards from that?

Chen Mu gritted his teeth and stared with his bloodshot eyes. He then gathered all of his strength to tough it out and just make one card after another.

Ru Qiu was happy during that time, having been pushed into such a miserable place the previous few days. Before she could turn around, the situation had completely transformed. Having gotten five assistants, she could pass her days in quite a leisurely fashion.

Women always held their grudges, however. That was probably their nature, Ru Qiu being no exception. Whenever she thought about how Chen Mu had oppressively exploited her to the point of misery those previous few days, she was so full of hate her teeth itched. So, she hadn’t given herself any breaks those last couple of days. On the contrary, she put all her time into making card ink. She felt satisfied when she looked at how much she produced every day.

Although she couldn’t really understand that boss of hers, she did understand some of his quirks. She knew Chen Mu would never let any of the finished ink go to waste no matter what.

Sure enough, with no urging from her, Chen Mu wound up all his strength and made cards like crazy. She had transferred all the pressure onto Chen Mu, which quite satisfied her and put her in a good mood.

In a small, dark room, after working continuously for who knew how long, Chen Mu had a dull and dispirited expression. But he was working with the precision and speed of a machine.

* * *

Looking at the card artisans standing ramrod-straight in front of him, Bogner showed a rare look of satisfaction.

“I have some good news to tell you. The first period of your training is already complete, and we have the results from each of the small groups. You have all qualified! The other piece of good news is that you may now freely chose whether you would like to stay or leave.”

There was a slight commotion among the card artisans, though those last few days of training had reminded them what discipline was. No one made any moves or talked out of order.

“Good, good!” Bogner’s look of satisfaction deepened, and he even smiled a little. “You have passed my final exam. I now announce that you have all qualified. According to the terms of the contract, you may now choose whether you will leave or remain. But…” he paused, “this is where I have a few things to say.”

His gaze slowly swept over each card artisan with a slightly mocking look on his face. “When I first saw you, you were a mess—a team full of tumult with no spirit or discipline. You couldn’t even compare with the most primitive local bandits. You were afraid of hard work and exhaustion. If you were the slightest bit wounded, you would scream bloody murder, no different from sissies.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t think very much of you then. In my eyes, you weren’t worthy to be called card artisans! You were cowards, full of fret and fear of death, and ignorant. I have never f****ng seen such lousy people! Heh heh. Anyhow, you guys who were not even as good as trash can now actually be called card artisans!”

Quite of few of the card artisans below him were looking indignant to the point that some looked like fire was spewing from their eyes. But under Bogner’s tyrannical oppression, the card artisans kept their cool.

“Am I wrong?” Bogner’s mocking look deepened. Then, just as the card artisans were about to charge, he suddenly raised his voice to say, “But you’re still not hopeless! Look at who you’ve become, and think about who you were. Beyond being able to complete such bitter training, you have already completed the most boring and difficult physical training! Could you have done that before? As you are now, your stops and starts are pure, your advance and retreat are up to snuff, and you act as a team! Could you have done that before?

“When I think of those who left because they couldn’t take the hard work, I know they will certainly feel regret. They lost their chance to become men and to prove themselves! They are gutless and afraid of pain, and they will go on slogging through life without knowing themselves! But you have already defended your own dignity by your actions! Whether you decide to stay or to leave, you will have plenty of reason to be proud!”

The card artisans below all stuck out their chests, unable to restrain their feelings.

“I have nothing to say in any other regard. Those who choose to remain will see how you will be treated right away. I believe it will satisfy you. In all other regards, I can make no promises or guarantees. I can’t guarantee that you will live on nor that you will be known throughout the land. The only thing I can promise is that I will make you into true card artisans!”

Bogner finished with a solemn look as he said in a deep voice, “So, it’s time for you to choose!”

After he spoke, he left without giving them another glance.

When the final statistics were compiled, 1,500 card artisans had decided to stay, while 600 decided to leave. That was far more than Bogner had expected. As he saw it, to be able to have 1,000 remain would have been pretty good.

Bogner was quickly concerned with another issue, however, which was the cards for those card artisans.

Fifteen hundred card artisans meant 1,500 cards. That was far more than they had expected. They had previously reckoned 1,000 card artisans would be enough, and there were now half as many more. That created more issues.

Thinking of that worried him. He rushed to find Xi Ping, wanting to ask him how the boss was planning to solve the issue of cards.

* * *

In his world of black and white, where the conditions never changed, the little bit of perceptual oscillation where perception would condense onto the tip of the pen was crystal-clear in Chen Mu’s field of vision.

How many days had it been? Chen Mu couldn’t remember.

His brain was blank, filled with nothing apart from the cards, the card compositions he knew inside and out, and the laws of oscillation. He couldn’t hear the noise outside, and the world in his eyes was devoid of color, leaving only black and white. He was like a machine that didn’t know exhaustion and didn’t know how to stop. He would draw the compositions and control the perceptual oscillations over and over again!

He hadn’t paid any attention to the awe and devotion from Ru Qiu every time she placed card ink on the desk. He also hadn’t paid attention to the perception in his body quietly undergoing a fine transformation. It was as though he was undergoing tempering thousands of times over. Although he was no different from before on the surface, he had already become as tough as iron inside! Furthermore, he hadn’t paid attention to what had previously been so difficult and had required him to carefully control those fine, ever-changing, rich perceptual oscillations, which he could now complete every time without even thinking.

In the same way, he didn’t know that what had filled Ru Qiu with such awe and devotion was that under his ever-wooden and sluggish gaze, there breathed a tough and focused mind.