The Card Apprentice

At Binidia Mountains, all the vanguard forces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy were gathered. Not long ago, they received Lord Tang Hanpei’s direct order. Eighty percent of them would be transferred back to the capital, while the remaining 20% would remain stationed there. It was only now that everyone realized that Tang Hanpei had only gotten them to retreat to the Binidia Mountains to have a better defensive position.

Binidia Mountains had a dangerous terrain. This coupled with the numerous forts constructed there made this an easily guarded and hard to attack place. Some of the high ranking officers were extremely dissatisfied with this decision. They believed that now was the perfect time for them to expand. And yet Tang Hanpei seemed dead set on defending instead. He lacked ambition.

Nevertheless, this was Tang Hanpei’s order. Therefore, none of them dared to disobey. They could be dissatisfied but they would still obediently arrange their forces before returning to the capital. For most of the card artisans, they were agreeable with returning to the capital.

They originated from the capital and were already used to living in a flourishing city. Live at the front line was extremely hard. Moreover, they had accumulated merit at the front line and would therefore receive great rewards upon their return. In fact, most of them would not be willing to come to the desolate front line if they had a choice.

Apart from the 20% of card artisans staying behind under Tao Ning’s lead, the rest of them returned to the capital. Nothing was more glorious than a triumphant return. Little did they know, Tang Hanpei would be the one waiting for them. He was now the true holder of power at the capital and his popularity was insurmountable in the entire Federation. With him personally welcoming them back, all the card artisans got incredibly excited.

Tang Hanpei personally entered the military camp and took control over this army. Nobody objected to this. Although they were comprised of the private armies of the various board members, nominally, they still needed to obey Tang Hanpei.

Tang Hanpei started spending all his time at the camp. He visited each unit to learn more about the lives of the ordinary card artisans. Next, he issued a series of commands to improve the lives of the ordinary artisans. This greatly increased is prestige in the army.

The leaders of the various units were very welcoming towards what Tang Hanpei did. As far as they were concerned, if even the foot soldiers could get such favorable treatment, they would be treated even better.

The leaders all waited patiently for the incoming generous reward. Tang Hanpei was the kind of person who was very good with his words and could make all that listened to him feel good. Towards some of their requests, he agreed without hesitation as well. His kindness was greatly received by them.

Yuzi Military Force.

Meiji said with a frown, “When are we doing it? Should I catch that kid today? I don’t understand this. Yumin, why would you be so interested on Caesar’s disciple? People that know how to lead an army are not rare. You can easily find many of them at the Star Academy. I can’t get anyone like Rossiji, but getting a few that are only slightly worse than him is still doable.”

Tan Zhi had fully recovered from his injury. He looked as if he had withered, like an old man of about 50 or 60 years old. But in fact, he was only 30 years old. Suddenly, he spoke, “There are also talents in Bitter Solitude Temple. Miss, why do you neglect what you can easily get for something not reachable?”

Tan Yumin calmly replied, “He is the student of Senior Caesar. A person that can attract Senior Caesar’s attention is definitely someone special.” She suddenly smiled and continued, “Just like what Mr. Tan said, why bother neglect something I can easily get for something not reachable?”

Tan Zhi’s expression shifted as he stared at Tan Yumin and asked, “What do you mean, miss? The temple head is your maternal grandfather. Don’t be rash, miss.”

Ji Zhihao suddenly laughed and said, “Mr. Tan, you have yet to fully recover from your injury. You need to be careful and don’t get too agitated. That White Commander is indeed quite powerful. He also has powerhouses comparable to you as his followers. If we can rope him in, it will be a great boost to us.”

Tan Zhi trembled slightly before he indifferently said, “I am too weak. Sorry for being an embarrassment to you, miss. It is natural that my weak self will be replaced by others. Furthermore, with the Star Academy sending Senior Mei Ji as a backup here, our Bitter Solitude Temple will need send a powerhouse comparable to him to protect you so as to show our sincerity.”

He deliberately raised his voice when he spoke the word “protect”.

“You are courting death!” Mei Ji yelled furiously. His face that was as tender as an infant’s face darkened with killing intent filling his eyes. “Do you think that I won’t dare to kill you?”

Ji Zhihao’s complexion looked paler, but his pair of bright eyes was fixed on Tan Zhi as well.

Tan Zhi said indifferently, “For Senior Mei to kill this junior, it is naturally a simple feat. I won’t bother resisting. But I was merely stating the fact. It is very disheartening to know that miss do not trust us at all. She would rather risk releasing the design plan rather than share it with our Bitter Solitude Temple. Furthermore, if my guess is correct, the Star Academy must have obtained part of it already, right?”

His eyes were fixed on Mei Ji when he spoke, not a trace of fear could be seen on him.

Mei Ji’s expression shifted slightly before he shouted, “Nonsense. That is not true. Do you have any proof?”

Tan Zhi expressionlessly replied, “Throughout the years, our Bitter Solitude Temple has been abiding by the agreement made back then. Now that I look at it, that is a complete mistake.”

The agreement made back then…

A trace of sadness surfaced on Tan Yumin’s eyes, as if she had been hurt by something. A smile appeared on her face, yet she looked even frostier now.

“May I know which powerhouse of Bitter Solitude Temple is the one replacing Mr. Tan this time?” Tan Yunmin calmly asked, her face expressionless. Despite the expressionless face, when Tan Zhi looked at her face, his heart grew chilly. He would no longer understand this woman. The chill did not last long as it was soon replaced with fury. The way Tan Yumin had tacitly agreed to what was being said had angered him.

“The one coming this time is Siam, the one who had recently been promoted as the leader of the South Temple.” Then, his tone shifted and became very unfriendly as he continued, “Miss Tan, due to your hot-headed actions, the hall master no longer trusts us. Your maternal grandfather himself has been reprimanded by the hall master because of this.”

As Tan Zhi originated from the West Temple, it was natural for him to feel unhappy about this.

Mei Ji’s tone turned solemn as he said, “Siam? If I recalled correctly, he is the direct disciple of your hall master and is only about 28 or 29 years old this year. How had he become the South Temple’s leader?”

The Bitter Solitude Temple was made up of a huge group of temples. To make it easier to manage these temples, they were separated into four temple districts of east, west, south, and north. Each temple district was lead by a temple leader, and above the temple leaders was the hall master that led the entire Bitter Solitude Temple.

The four temple leaders held great power in the temple. Apart from the North Temple leader Gu Xisheng who focused only on making cards, the other three temple leaders were individuals with great popularity and strength. Never before in the history of Bitter Solitude Temple had someone below 30 reach such position.

With worshipping eyes, Tan Zhi replied, “That’s right. Temple Leader Siam is a person of remarkable talent. About three months ago, he distinguished himself among all the candidates for the South Temple’s leadership position to obtain victory in the selection process and become the youngest temple leader in the history of Bitter Solitude Temple.”

Mei Ji remained silent while his expressions shifted indefinitely.

“Miss Tan, I advise that you take note of your words and conducts moving forward. Temple Leader Siam might not be as friendly a person as I am. I also hope you will stop making things difficult for your maternal grandfather,” Tan Zhi said nonchalantly before bidding his goodbye and leaving.

By this point, Mei Ji’s face was already extremely unsightly as he also quickly left the room. Soon, only Ji Zhihao and Tan Yumin were left in the meeting room. Suddenly, they exchanged glances and smiled. They did not seem displeased at all. With a smile, Tan Yumin spoke, “Zhihao, looks like your trick has taken effect.”

Ji Zhihao’s pale face was filled with confidence as he said, “We only need to observe the changes. As long as the agreement is still in effect, we would be restricted by it. So long as a conflict arises among them, we will have a chance to break away from their grasp.”

“What should we do next?” Tan Yumin asked.

“Siam will definitely try to threaten you when he arrives to get part of the design plan. For now, you only need to request for Senior Mei’s help and let him deal with the trouble. I believe that Star Academy will not be willing to give up on something they are about to get. Siam will also not be willing to allow the Star Academy to be ahead of them. A conflict between them is unavoidable. You only need to keep the notebook in your grip and you will be able to preserve your life,” Ji Zhihao said, his eyes appeared very spirited in contrast with his pale complexion.

“When the conflict between them reaches the tipping point, it will be the time for us to break free of them,” Ji Zhihao concluded.

“What about White Commander?” Tan Yumin asked.

“Ji Zhihao smiled confidently, “Have you forgotten about the Big Bad Wolves sent by the Comprehensive Federation Academy? The conflict between them will not end so easily. We can sit down and observe as it unfolds. This will also be a good chance to see what will Caesar do about this.”

Tan Yumin flashed an enchanting smile, “Zhihao, thank you.”

But when she lowered her head, a trace of desolation flashed past her eyes.

Xiaobo stared at the distant town and muttered, “This is Fir Town? It’s really small.”

The Fir Town was indeed a tiny town with a population of less than 50,000 people. China firs were grown all over around the town. Currently, the top of the trees were filled with deep layers of snow. A wide expanse of white could be seen when one looked at it from above. If someone decided to hide among them, that person would be extremely hard to find.

When they raised their head, they could see snowflakes fluttering about. Evidently, it was quite windy here. To not attract any attention, they did not raise any energy barriers. Thus, when the wind blew on their faces, it felt as piercing as the edge of a knife. Thick layers of cloud floated on the sky and combined with a huge snow storm, the visibility of this area was very low.

This was very advantageous for them. Chen Mu started studying his surroundings, observing anything he could see. This was the first time he did a plan like this. Therefore, he was not confident that he would be successful. Not everything would be determined by plans. He understood this.

He was definitely nervous about this. One ought to know that this plan of him would not only decide if he stayed alive, the lives of everyone in his team would be affected. Therefore, he was under great pressure.

If the guy with flat eyebrows was here, they would be able to hide in the clouds and land a fatal attack on their enemies when they least expected it. If Hertha was here, he would be able to use a greater number of card appliances to make up for what they lacked in numbers. And if…

Suddenly, he stopped his line of thought, wondering why was he thinking about all this now. His lips felt dry. He shook his head, tossing these pointless thoughts out of his mind. After deciding on which direction to go, they hid amid the forest of China firs. Chen Mu activated the snake lens and carefully scouted the area. He was like a meticulous hunter that was patiently waiting for his prey to fall into his trap.