The Card Apprentice

Damn!

The wave of probing fluctuation was just too sensitive! The bogus borderline breath control method, which never failed, actually could not escape from the adversary’s detection. It caused Chen Mu an enormous headache. Concealment was his greatest advantage, and almost all of his battle tactics branched off from that point. Once it was removed, his situation would be rather far from good.

Such was precisely the disadvantage of extreme tactics. Chen Mu hadn’t been aware of how extreme his own tactics were before. He realized that when he could no longer keep himself concealed, he lacked other means of counterattacking and was completely caught in a false position.

Initially, he had believed his own forethoughts were already quite thorough. To think there was actually a loophole as big as that, Chen Mu couldn’t help a wry, inward laugh. He hadn’t undergone systematic tactical training. He honestly had nothing too commendable in terms of tactics. In contrast, his battle instincts and his control of timing, which seemed to be as sensitive as that of wild beast, were, in fact, his strongest points.

However, even he himself didn’t realize his competence in tactics was also improving at an astonishing speed. The reason it was still so weak was just that he had zero foundation.

His other forte was his strong ability in learning. But, that time, he knew he was in huge trouble! The adversary’s probing ability was too strong, so he had nowhere to hide, which meant there was no way to avoid confrontations. But he had only himself; the adversary numbered in the tens. The power of the two sides was entirely on different levels.

What to do next? Chen Mu wracked his brains, hoping to find a solution. He had been running away non-stop for three hours, but the obstinate probing fluctuation pestering him indicated that the enemy was doggedly hot on his heels.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. After hesitating a little, Chen Mu clenched his teeth fiercely and abruptly took off into the air, flying straight up!

Few would fly in the fully visible sky—especially that of the forest. That was simply no different from seeking death. In the forest lived many wild beasts capable of flight. To fly in the sky in such an undisguised way, one would immediately become the prey of all sorts of flying beasts.

The wind in the sky was piercingly cold, and the snow had ceased at some unknown time earlier. Sunshine fell on his body and brought him a trace of warmth.

The adversary was approaching at high speed. Chen Mu looked back because he had sensed it. His perception itself, too, had a powerful probing capability. The qualitative change of his perception had also greatly enhanced that capability.

There were no less than 20 men. That figure made Chen Mu incapable of restraining himself from showing an expression of wryness once more. But the trace of a bitter smile appeared for just a flash. His expression then resumed to one of resolution, and the coldness in his eyes gradually increased.

After all those years, he was no longer that boy of the past who had been helpless whenever encountering a battle.

Given the adversary’s speed, he still had about ten minutes. Besides, as though they had noticed his stopping, their speed decreased as well. The adversary is indeed cautious! Chen Mu was more glad than shocked, for the adversary’s seemingly prudent move gave him time.

At that moment, a few shadows darted out from the forest.

Dingbirds! Chen Mu’s memory of them was deeply engraved, and in his heart, he felt a little surer. Having counted roughly, he found that the number of dingbirds was only ten or so, which was still some way off from the quantity he had been inwardly hoping for.

He simply started circling the sky above the forest.

That was a provocation. An undisguised provocation! The dingbirds were obviously angered by Chen Mu’s actions. With bloodshot eyes, they charged at him in flocks.

Those attracted and enraged weren’t just the dingbirds. All sorts of beasts came charging out of the nearby forest incessantly. Flitting about in the sky, Chen Mu was like a strong magnet, attracting a large number of beasts to gather around him.

In a short time, the beasts around him had reached as many as 50 or 60. The bloodthirsty, carnivorous beasts had violent tempers to begin with. How could they withstand such obvious and blatant provocation? That was their territory. When had such a fellow actually dared to be so insolent?

The ones bold enough to soar into the sky were all powerful beasts not inferior to the dingbirds.

An example was the mille-feuilles flying locust. It had a body up to about eight meters in length and leaf-shaped wings all over. The number of wings was astounding, being as much as 1,000. The speed of its flight lost out to that of the dingbirds, but it surpassed in agility. An adult mille-feuilles flying locust would have about 100 tentacles the thickness of a thumb. A tentacle fully extended could reach as far as 15 meters, and its interior was hollow, storing substantial venom. The tip of the tentacle was incredibly sharp and could easily pierce the tough skin of its enemy. Once stabbed into the adversary’s muscles, a massive amount of venom would be injected within an extremely short time, numbing the adversary’s nerves.

It was a frightening creature. Even the tough guys like the dingbirds were rather wary of it. What was more startling was that there were actually five mille-feuilles flying locusts there!

Chen Mu’s scalp was numb. He was frantically operating the Big Mudfish, flying erratically everywhere. Behind him followed a dense mass of various beasts. The beasts each had thoroughly red eyes and were as hyped up as though they had taken drugs.

Chen Mu’s face started to show a hint of fear! Merely a little slower, merely a slight relaxation, and those terrifying creatures would rush forward together. He might not even have bone fragments left then. A large swarm of snow wasps was also in there. The favorite hobby of those little fellows, snow-white all over, was gnawing away at various kinds of bones.

The situation at hand was far beyond Chen Mu’s expectation and entirely out of control. He absolutely hadn’t expected to draw such a crowd of heavyweight creatures, and he immediately fell into the awkward position of being hardly capable of defending himself.

Soon, Chen Mu’s forehead was dripping with sweat, his breathing was heavy, and his throat was almost giving off smoke. His figure turned abruptly and barely escaped a few tentacles, startling him into a cold sweat! Not daring to have any delay, a chain-styled direction change closely followed next. His flying trajectory drew little rings one after another, each linking to the next, so it seemed like a chain in the sky.

Before he could even heave a sigh of relief, however, a sharp whistling sounded behind him. The view coming through from his perception almost scared him out of his wits! The dingbirds behind him had climbed to a greater height sometime earlier. With a quiver of both wings, they took turns swooping down at Chen Mu.

No one was brave enough to be in the direct path of the dive of a dingbird! Other creatures darted aside in quick succession, being quite wary of a dingbird’s dive, too.

Chen Mu had already utterly given up on the idea of relying on the power of the crowd of beasts to deal with those card artisans. There was only one thought in his mind at that point. Flee!

Deciding quickly, Chen Mu plunged downward head-first for the forest, without even time to adjust his posture. Thus, an interesting scene appeared in the sky. It seemed as though a man was leading a flock of dingbirds in a suicidal nosedive!

Chen Mu was picking up speed for dear life. The wind was blowing so hard he almost couldn’t open his eyes, and it felt like knives cutting into his cheeks. Diving down from the sky at such a high speed was extremely dangerous. If the slightest mistake was made, it would absolutely mean no chance of survival. Even if he had the energy cloak, a collision with the ground at such a speed would just mean a shattered cloak and a dead man.

Yet, Chen Mu didn’t dare to slow his speed in any way. The dingbirds behind him were aggressive and murderous. If he slowed down in the slightest and was caught by the dingbirds behind him, the result would be worse!

Chen Mu even had the heart to howl in grief at that moment. He had originally intended to leverage the power of the beasts in the battle against the enemies behind him. Who could have known it was self-defeating? Perhaps even before the enemies made a move, he would have already died in the hands of those beasts.

Strange… Why are there so many formidable wild beasts here?

The thought appeared like lightning in his mind and vanished just as quickly. He couldn’t care about considering any questions at present. The whistling of the wind was in his ears, and the wind puffing in his face almost made it difficult for him to even breathe. But he didn’t have the nerve to relax at all. His perception spread out like ripples, sensing the astounding speed.

Chen Mu opened his eyes wide, as though he was glaring angrily, with no regard for the discomfort caused by the wind. In his eyes, the ground and the forest were zooming in speedily, and the shocking rapidity could almost stop one’s heartbeat.

Soon! Soon!

—This is it!

At about ten meters away from the forest, Chen Mu clenched his teeth. The jet stream emitted from his card abruptly changed, and the direction suddenly tilted upward! The big mudfish card’s incomparable direction-change functionality was utilized to the fullest at that moment. Within the distance of ten meters, Chen Mu had changed from diving straight down to a horizontal flight. Thus, it was evident how outstanding the big mudfish card’s direction-change functionality was!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Seven or eight dingbirds couldn’t react in time, plummeting head-first into the forest. They dashed against the ground violently like shooting stars, instantly crashing into a ball of meat pulp.

Flying close against the canopy of the forest and with leaves whipping his body now and then, Chen Mu was simultaneously grimacing from the pain and unable to suppress his grin. No matter who it was, escaping alive from that kind of situation would make them supremely glad.

However, before he had time to rejoice, the dense mass of wild beasts flew at him like a dark cloud. Discounting the seven or eight fallen dingbirds, the power of those beasts was still at least ten times stronger than Chen Mu.

His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly raised his speed, flying forward wildly. He could no longer care about the direction and was fleeing in any path without heed to which he chose.

Mo Ta saw Ah Xin abruptly halt and asked cautiously, “Ah Xin, what is it? Is there a situation?”

Ah Xin’s face showed some perplexity. “The target is currently flying toward us.”

Mo Ta was a little taken aback but swiftly broke into a smile. “Seems like this guy knows he can’t escape! Ha ha! That’s fine. Saves us the trouble. You guys can surround him later. I’m going to test his abilities!” Mo Ta’s face revealed some sign of fervor. The other card artisans had long gotten used to their boss’s temperament.

Ah Xin did not speak, and his eyes were closed. Suddenly, he opened his eyes in a snap, exclaiming, “Hm!”

The gang was stunned, turning their eyes to Ah Xin.

“The target’s speed is too fast,” Ah Xin muttered. “That’s so fast!” He then said hastily, “Hurry! He’ll be here in a moment, straight ahead! Be careful, everyone!”

Everyone had an inward shiver and got themselves ready.

“He’s coming!” Ah Xin warned. His expression changed instantly, and terror filled his voice. “Oh, no…”

Before he could finish—swoosh! The shadow of a man shot out from among the leaves like a bolt of lightning!