The Card Apprentice

The Bronze Masked Man’s speed was extremely fast too. He carried Lady Faya in one hand and his figure shot back violently.

However, Wei-ah’s speed was even faster!

Chen Mu did not know whether Wei-ah’s speed was the fastest, but in terms of short-ranged explosive power, he didn’t believe that anyone could surpass Wei-ah! Amongst the aces that he had seen, in terms of short-ranged explosive power, Wei-ah came first and the demonic woman second. The others, be it Jiao Si or Caesar, could not possibly claim to be better in this aspect. Within a short range, the explosive power of muscles had more advantages than cards.

Chen Mu’s assessment was exceedingly accurate. As though without any warning, Wei-ah appeared out of thin air beside the Bronze Masked Man, whose gaze told of his shock. By a hair’s breadth, a layer of energy cloak appeared in between Wei-ah and the Bronze Masked Man.

The speed of the two men was too fast! Chen Mu couldn’t keep up. But when he saw the reappearance of the energy cloak once more, a shiver was in his heart. The shattering of an energy cloak would have some effect on the card itself, so the next activation of the energy cloak usually needed more time. But the Bronze Masked Man had activated the energy cloak twice within an exceptionally short time with such ease and composure. Simply considering this move alone, Chen Mu was far inferior. It required an extremely perverted control of perception.

Ping!

Yet another crisp sound, and Wei-ah’s fist shattered the newly-activated energy cloak once more. Nonetheless, with the help of this tiny bit of gap, the Bronze Masked Man and Lady Faya vanished at once amongst the dreamy shards of fragmented light. By the time Chen Mu caught sight of their figures once more, the two were already in a corner behind the guards.

The exchange of attacks between the two were as quick as lightning. The sharpness of Wei-ah’s attacks and the swfitness of the Bronze Masked Man’s response both displayed the air of super aces! However, the present moment was obviously not a good time to spectate a battle. Lady Faya had been carried in the Bronze Masked Man’s hand all this time. Chen Mu had no means of getting closer and could only turn his mind to the other card artisans.

State Zero!

Strength burst from his legs abruptly, his figure blurred, and he cut into amongst the Faya card artisans like a sharp blade. In a fleeting instant, countless black and white alternating energy beads appeared around him – it was the Bipolar card!

“It’s you!”

“Qiao Yuan!”

…

Exclamations rose in waves as these card artisans presently realised who the incoming adversary was! These black and white alternating energy beads were a weapon they remembered well by heart, just like that golden energy chain! Upon hearing the exclamations of the card artisans, Lady Faya’s face showed her disbelief and she turned around sharply. The Bronze Masked Man was shocked too and turned abruptly to look at Chen Mu too, and his eyes were full of the intent to kill!

But before he could lunge at Chen Mu, Wei-ah was already there!

Without any hesitation, the Bronze Masked Man put down Lady Faya and rushed towards Wei-ah. He had been at a disadvantage all the time while he had carried Lady Faya. Only with all his attention on the battle did he stand a chance! Besides, though the residence wasn’t a large one, there were 20 card artisans in there! These card artisans were Faya’s elites. Each permitted to be there was of the level of a minor team leader. With 20 such elite card artisans, the Bronze Masked Man didn’t think Qiao Yuan could pose any harm to Lady Faya’s safety.

What he needed to be the most wary of was this terrifying ace of the cardless sects in front of him!

A speed quick as lightning, unsurpassably great strength, skillful battle tactics, a cool head… When did such an ace appear from amongst the cardless sects? Could this ace of the cardless sects actually be Qiao Yuan’s secret weapon? He suddenly remembered that after the battle in which Qiao Yuan had nearly lost his life, Wen had originally intended to take the opportunity to attack stealthily, but had somehow retreated with shock and fear later. He couldn’t understand Wen before this, but at that moment he was enlightened!

The Bronze Masked Man’s gaze intensified and his perception locked on to Wei-ah securely! Despite the fact that he had been at a disadvantage since the beginning, his spirit wasn’t affected at all.

Silently and without any signs, Wei-ah stopped his figure with such ferocity that he seemed to have violated the laws of physics.

The two sides fell into a stalemate and their eyes met.

The instant two murderous auras clashed in the air, the two men made their move at the same time!

Wei-ah suddenly vanished from the spot while the Bronze Masked Man’s pupil contracted a little and, as his fingers closed together, five rays of pink light shot from his hand.

After Wei-ah’s sudden halt, he twisted around and zigzagged, moving back by five steps as if without rhyme or reason. He was flickering like a ghost floating about amongst the rays of light. The direction and coordinates of these five beams were very clever and had cut off all his paths in advancing forward such that he could only move to the side.

Though Wei-ah’s unexpected backing away did surprise the Bronze Masked Man a little, the movement of his hands did not slow in the slightest. His right hand seemed like it was immersed in a cloud of vague shadows and one could barely make out the movements of the fingers.

Countless pink rays shot from his hand at Wei-ah like a shower of pink light. These rays weren’t directly aimed at Wei-ah and many fell in the empty space around him.

Wei-ah’s figure vanished and reappeared every now and then among the innumerable pink light rays. The broken shadow twisting and dodging sideways left trails behind him one after another.

Ding!

The soft ring of a bell which couldn’t have been any softer sounded from between the Bronze Masked Man’s fingers and jerked to a stop. All the pink rays had disappeared along with this ring and in the air around Wei-ah hovered countless fingernail-sized pink energy blades, looking as though pink Sakura petals had filled the sky!

Wei-ah sensed danger!

In the corner, Lady Faya, who had just been put down, glared at Qiao Yuan with vehemence. Her gaze had turned wicked and hard to read. She wasn’t worried for her own safety though. The twenty card artisans in front of her formed the strongest circle of defense!

Due to the narrow space, it wasn’t easy to have too many people fighting at the same time. The first few to attack were the four card artisans closest to Chen Mu! At the moment of beginning their assault, two close combat card artisans lunged at Chen Mu while the other two moved back swiftly, releasing energy bodies from their hands to shoot at Chen Mu!

Chen Mu had an entirely different experience this time as compared to the last time in State Zero!

In the black and white world, the lines which gave rise to everything were changing and every line had its unique meaning. Some were air and some outlined the figures of objects and card artisans. Not one moment were they static, but be it changing drastically or slowly, none escaped Chen Mu’s perception! But there were exceptions as well, such as Wei-ah and the Bronze Masked Man. Chen Mu could not capture their minute changes. This also made Chen Mu realise that State Zero wasn’t omnipotent.

Nonetheless, these card artisans in front didn’t cause him much trouble! It seemed like, as per normal, that feeling of having everything in control filled him with confidence.

However, he did not move recklessly, because, apart from that familiar sensation, there was another feeling just as intense – extreme danger! This was the first time that he felt such a strong sense of danger in State Zero!

He was immersed in a very peculiar state. The strong feeling of having everything in control and the just as intense sense of extreme danger were like a pair of parallel lines, both existing at the same time and appearing just as distinct!

The feeling of having everything was full of temptation, as though someone was whispering in his ear, “Do it! Do it! You just need to do it, and they’ll turn into dust!”

The intense sense of danger was filled with alarm, as though someone else was at his ear continually reminding him, “Leave! Leave! If you don’t go now, even your bones won’t be left!”

Chen Mu hated this state! It disturbed him!

At the present moment, there was no time left to ponder why such a situation had appeared. All he could do was to make a choice between the two. To fight, or not fight?

He had experienced many battles and knew that, being undecided as he was at that moment, he stood no chance of winning.

Numerous scenes flashed past in his mind like lightning. The cold winter in childhood, the laughter he had shared with Copper, the anxiety of his first battle, the peaceful life of his dreams…

For some unknown reason, his heart regained its peace rapidly. With a solemn expression, he opened his eyes and was no longer perturbed. The black and white world remained in his eyes and the sense of danger hadn’t weakened a bit, but it could no longer make his determination waver!

The two close combat card artisans were only five steps away from Chen Mu. The pair used the same cards and 30 silver blades materialised! The silver energy blades, each two fingers wide, filled up every inch of space around Chen Mu. They intertwined like a web and, with a fierce murderous aura, closed in on him!

The orange energy darts released from the hands of the other two card artisans flew in a curved trajectory around the two close combat card artisans, and Chen Mu was their target.

The four card artisans hadn’t made any exchange between themselves, but when they struck, it was with great teamwork!

All the card artisans were snickering. No matter how powerful Qiao Yuan was, the only solution left at present was to withstand the attacks with an energy cloak head on! Although the four orange energy darts weren’t all that fast, their penetration was extremely stunning. Being hit by four darts simultaneously, energy cloaks with less than five stars could only end up shattering.

As she saw that Qiao Yuan had no means of escape, pleasure could be read from Lady Faya’s eyes, as well as a trace of an almost indiscernible complicated emotion.

Just as everyone thought that Chen Mu had nowhere to escape to, Chen Mu finally made his move!

The black and white energy beads floating around him promptly brightened. Just ahead in the path of flight of the silver blades, beam after beam lit up, each directly facing a silver blade!

Ding!

The sound of the collision between 30 silver blades and light beams were brought together, sharp and crisp, and the unprepared crowd felt a pain in their ears!

The energy shards around Chen Mu rippled in waves and enveloped him within.

Amongst the broken fragments of light, his body bent sinisterly and the four orange energy darts hit an empty space in the same moment. Meanwhile, strength burst from his legs instantly and he suddenly shot up into the air like a compressed spring!

The two close combat card artisans merely felt their eyes blurred for a moment, and Qiao Yuan had already appeared in front of them.

The two men were horrified and, before they could respond, two light rays which had appeared out of thin air pierced their heart! Without any delay, Chen Mu whisked past between them like a wind.

At this monent, the crowd all revealed their horror. Before they had become aware of it, innumerable black and white energy beads had appeared around them in order!

They suddenly remembered that it was exactly those black and white energy beads which cancelled out the onslaught of sharp blades!

In their eyes then, the tiny energy beads were emitting the aura of danger and fatality!

The black and white energy beads were, like a game of Go arranged with countless pieces, deeply profound and unfathomable! And the shower of pink petals of the Bronze Masked Man’s was ridiculously romantic! Even though one could detect the palpitating intent to kill beneath that beauty, one would willingly be enchanted by those bits of pink!

The vulgar and sinister lines on the bronze mask on the Bronze Masked Man’s face seemed to have softened in the rain of petals too, like the willow swaying in spring. The cold desire for murder vanished from his eyes, replaced by calmness and mildness which reflected Wei-ah who was as cold as stone.

From his lips came the chant,

— “Flower World!”