The Card Apprentice

When Chen Mu opened his eyes, a sharp radiance flashed on his cold pupils. He grew excited as he sensed the tiny growth in his body. This One Breath Perception Training Guide had been exceptionally effective and had far surpassed what he had imagined. He had only managed to barely complete all the steps today. The entire process of completion was rather bumpy and had been riddled with failures.

Even so, he had still managed to sense a clear growth in only one day. At this speed, it would not take him long to breakthrough into Level 7 Perception. However, he was still at the early phase of practicing this training guide. He needed to meditate quietly while his training process hadn’t gone smoothly at all.

Only when he could integrate all 43 steps of this training guide into his regular breathing process would he be truly powerful. It was quite curious who the creator of this One Breath Perception Training Guide was. It was truly quite powerful.

Today, he needed to attend Tan Yumin’s invitation with Jie Yanbai.

“I am quite curious as to how Tan Yumin’s Yuzi Military Force looks like. This is after all Meiji’s personal selection. I hope the reputation of the Big Six would not suffer here. Otherwise, I will feel ashamed on his behalf,” Xie Yanbai said with a smile. From how he spoke of Tan Yumin, it was clear that he did not have a favorable impression of Tan Yumin.

This reminded Chen Mu that Xie Yanbai originated from the Big Six as well. As the two had been able to get along fine, he kept forgetting about this. He asked, “Are the military forces of Big Six powerful?”

Xie Baiyan smiled and indifferently spoke, “The military forces of Big Six can’t even be called a true military force. They are too far from being a true military force. Even the Heavenly Federation’s 12 military forces are much better.”

Chen Mu sank into a slight thought before he asked, “How do they compare with the card artisan teams such as Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team?”

Xie Yanbai explained, “That will depend on how they compete. Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team’s Blood Hammer Unit and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team’s Ice Crystal Unit are both elite forces. Although they are not as disciplined as a regular military force, they are much better than regular card artisans like us. But when compared to the trump cards of Big Six, Star Court’s Elder Council, Central Repository of the Classics’s Three Flower Unit, Moon Frost Island’s Island Unit, Desert Camp’s Sand Guards, Bitter Solitude Temple’s Bitter Hall, and Comprehensive Federation Academy’s Special Mobile Unit, they were way too lacking.”

“I see,” Chen Mu nodded.

“Generally speaking, card artisan teams can’t be compared with us from the Big Six. For example, our Central Repository of the Classics’s Three Flower Unit has instructors that had been real military instructors. The other five of the Big Six are the same. In fact, the military forces of the Big Six are almost identical to a true military force. Moreover, the individual combat prowess of the card artisans in the Big Six’s military forces is even higher than the card artisans of regular military forces. ”

Then, Xie Yanbai smiled helplessly and continued, “Even so, we are still not willing to fight the military. If it is a fight with a scale of about 10 combatants, we will definitely emerge victorious. In a fight with a scale of 100 combatants, we have 50% chance of winning. And if it is a fight at a scale of 1,000 combatants, we have less than 20% chance of winning.”

“Why?” Chen Mu could not understand.

“There are many reasons. The larger the scale, the less the card artisan’s individual combat prowess would matter while the quality of the commanding officer and the coordination of the various units will be much more important. In these two aspects, we are far too lacking compared to the military. Historically, a non-military card artisan unit had only defeated the military on one occasion,” explained Xie Baiyan.

“Which occasion?” Chen Mu’s interest was piqued.

“That happened a long time ago. It was done by a card artisan team called the Black Hibiscus. They had a genius commander, and this card artisan team was built from scratch by him. The military suffered a great defeat on his hands. One military leader was even forced to resign because of this incident. If our Central Repository of the Classics has a genius like this as well, aii…” Xie Yanbai sighed as he recalled the previous battle record where the Central Repository of the Classics suffered total defeat. Although he had a powerful combat prowess, he was too lacking when it was a large scale battle between military forces.

“Raising an army is easy, but finding a good general is hard. The Big Six might seem glorious but talents like this are still hard to come by. The commander competition of the Big Six is hold precisely for the purpose of discovering talents in this aspect. An example of such a talent is Song Chengyan. Unfortunately, he died early. But in a way, his death was quite fortunate as he had caused Tang Han to lose an arm. Otherwise, things will be troublesome for us,” Xie Yanbai said with a crisp laugh.

Chen Mu said, “I heard this name before. He seems to be a formidable person.”

Suddenly, Chen Mu started wondering who would be the victor if this Song Chengyan had to face Jody Bogner.

“Not only was he formidable. He could stabilize the situation even against opponents twice the number. He was a very heroic individual,” Xie Yanbai did not attempt to hide his admiration towards Song Chengyan.

“In terms of rank, Lao Hao isn’t too far behind, yet he had always been suppressed by him. It is clear that the so-called rank is not necessarily trustable. I do quite look forward for a certain person to make his appearance, though.”

“Who?” Chen Mu was curious.

“Bizarre Genius of Star Court, Rossiji!” Xie Yanbai’s face turn solemn, “The Star Court had remained low profile these years but had nurtured such a talented person. This Rossiji is only 21 years old this year. During the first commander competition he joined, he won all his matches. At that time, he was only 17 years old. Four years have passed since then and the first place has never left his grasp. Not even Song Chengyan could do anything to him. How can anyone not look forward to someone like this to make an appearance?”

Suddenly, a look of desolation appeared on Xie Yanbai. He smiled bitterly and said, “I have a feeling that the Federation would ultimately end up with only Star Court and Tang Hanpei fighting for domination. The only thing I can do is preserve the strength of the Central Repository of the Classics.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned heavy. Chen Mu did not know how to console him. They both sank into silence. This was when the apparatus on Xie Yanbai’s hand rang. A screen popped out. On it, a wan and sallow Madam Zhi Lian could be seen. Her eyes were red, while sorrow was on her face. At this sight, a bad feeling rose in Xie Yanbai’s heart.

“Yanbai, the master has passed away.”

This news was like a thunder from a clear sky. Xie Yanbai paled, his brain started humming. The reason for him to be unwilling to return to the Central Repository of the Classics was quite complicated. He had an unhappy past there as he had never been valued during his time there. The other students there used to bully him as well.

Of course, for the present him, those were all the fleeting past. However, he would also not be bothered with taking an initiative to help the Repository. The other main reason he had never wanted to return was because the master was still there. Although the master had suffered defeat under Tang Hanpei, resulting in a taint on his dignity, Xie Yanbai was still of the opinion that so long as the master was there, the Repository would remain safe.

Alas…

“What happened?” Xie Yanbai inhaled deeply and forced his voice to sound calm. With her eyes red, Madam Zhi Lian said, “He had accumulated too much negative energy. When cultivating his Perception, his internal organs started bleeding. When I arrived, he…was already near death.”

Xia Yanbai sank into silence. He wasn’t particularly close with the master. During his four years schooling there, he hadn’t even met the master once. Nevertheless, he still knew that with the death of the master, the entire Central Repository of the Classics would be in a critical condition. In any case, the death of a powerhouse would always cause one to have a sense of lamentation.

“Yanbai, come back. If not, the Repository would be disbanded,” Madam Zhi Lian sobbed. She could no longer hold her tears. These days, to maintain the stability of the Repository, she had personally taken control of it. Unlike Jia Yingxia, she was only a card master. Managing the Repository had been very difficult for her.

Xie Yanbai pursed his lips. As he was exerting too much force, his lips paled. Pain and hesitation flashed in his eyes. After a short silence, he said, “Madam, Yanbai’s ambition lies elsewhere. In the Repository, there are many able persons among the senior brothers and senior sisters…”

Madam Zhi Lian bellowed, “Enough! Even if you don’t care about the Repository, won’t you care about your teacher? Senior Sister Qingyan had been staying at the Repository since she was a child. Do you want her to lose her home? Think about it yourself!”

She then hung up the call. Xie Yanbai had an unsightly expression on his face. Chen Mu was tactful enough to not say anything. But inwardly, he was sighing. The master of Central Repository of the Classics had been a glorious powerhouse for so several decades. And now, he was dead.

Looking at the change of Xie Yanbai’s face in silence, Chen Mu suddenly laughed. Xie Yanbai was seemingly awaked from his thought by this laugh. He raised his head and looked at Chen Mu’s laughing face before laughed mockingly at himself. With a shrug, he said, “Well, it doesn’t seem like I have much choice, right?”

“What is your ambition?” Chen Mu asked curiously. “You mentioned your ambition lying elsewhere just now.”

Xie Yanbai first blanked out before laughing heroically, “To roam far and wide, to meet all heroes. Ever since the incidence at the forest, I feel like human life is way too short. If I don’t travel more and see more while I’m still young, it will be a waste of my youth.”

His heroic laugh was soon replaced by a bitter smile, “But looks like I won’t be able to do that anymore. Madam was right. I can abandon the others but not my teacher. She grew up at the Repository. That place is like a home for her. She is my sole weakness.”

Chen Mu said, “Go then. Since you care about her, go and do what you need to do.”

Xie Yanbai fixed his gaze at Chen Mu for a long while before saying, “All along, I have been feeling that you don’t look like Senior Caeser’s student. But those words you just said, they do sound like something he would say.”

“I can’t be considered his student. I had only stayed with him for a day,” Chen Mu disagreed.

Xie Yanbai’s gaze immediately turned odd, “You only stayed with Senior Caeser for one day?”

“Yeah. Less than five hours,” Chen Mu nodded.

“And that was enough for you to learn State Zero?” The odd look on Xie Yanbai’s face grew even more intense.

Chen Mu did not know why Xie Yanbai would have that expression. He answered, “I only knew how to use it. I won’t consider that as having learned it.”

As a respond, Xie Yanbai stared at Chen Mu for a long time. It was as if he had found something on Chen Mu’s face. After a long while, he sighed, “I am starting to respect Senior Caeser’s insight.”

Chen Mu did not understand why Bai Xieyan would suddenly be sighing. Therefore, he changed the topic and asked, “When are you leaving?”

A resolute look covered Xie Yanbai’s face. His eyebrows were sharp, and his gaze was firm. Not a trace of hesitation could be seen on him now. With a smile, he answered, “Since I have decided, it would do well for me to not procrastinate. I will set off now. You have to go to see Tan Yumin alone.”

He then patted Chen Mu’s shoulder and said, “Be careful, and take care.”

Chen Mu’s heart warmed when he sensed the concern within Xie Yanbai’s eyes, “You take care as well.”

Next, Xie Yanbai left.