The Card Apprentice

Low-grade fantasy card clubs had greatly proliferated these last few years, as some people also started to realize the potential business opportunities they held in store, and got into them willy-nilly. But they were not nearly so well organized as this low-grade fantasy card club, and were well behind in their experience. For the time being, no matter where they came from, they wouldn’t be any threat to this low-grade fantasy card club.

Chen Mu showing up at the club shocked a lot of people, since he hadn’t been there for quite a while. The older members had started to give the incoming members vivid accounts of that time when Chen Mu so heroically swept the points.

He had already been recognized as the one having the most extensive accomplishments in low-grade fantasy card research, apart from the president. Even those having the designation as mid-grade card masters wouldn’t be able to put on airs in front of Chen Mu around that place.

Those with actual strength always earn other peoples’ esteem more easily.

“Mr. Chen, it’s been a long time since you’ve come!” An Xiaoyou’s voice was full of pleasant surprise, the brilliant gaze from his two eyes making Chen Mu a little jumpy. Still, the look on Chen Mu’s face didn’t change a bit.

The figure of Lan Feng showed up not far away, and like a fly smelling honey Copper dropped any loyalty to Chen Mu and stuck himself to her.

Seeing this scene, Chen Mu laughed mutely in spite of himself; from the bottom of his heart, never wanting to stand in the way of Copper’s happiness. As far as their kinds of people were concerned, romance was really too extravagant.

Chen Mu was very happy that Copper was able to find his own lover. There was no difference between the two of them in this regard, except that Copper knew how to talk, and he buried himself deeper.

Love was not what you thought it was.

Wondering how he could as easily abandon An Xiaoyou, Chen Mu immediately paid attention to other things, making it tough for An Xiaoyou to snag any opportunity.

“Mr. Chen, I’ve run into a problem. . . ”

“Regarding the application of the recursive composition, why . . . ”

“If you want to realize color superposition . . . ”

A string of questions came pouring down from the skies, practically crushing Chen Mu. But glancing at the just then so tender and sweet as honey Copper, the otherwise unoccupied Chen Mu began to respond to the questions one by one.

Making the tailless shuttle card had expanded Chen Mu’s outlook by more than a little bit. The difference between two-star and three-star far exceeded what ordinary people might imagine. This was an improvement in his essential understanding of the principles, where previously, although he could resolve whatever problems came up with a one-star fantasy card, he would have had a hard time to explain them on the basis of principles, whereas he had now seen the light all at once, and quite a few things which had been unclear, had also become clear all at once.

He’d had an inkling about this from the card play “The Legend of Master Shi” that he was making just then. Although he wasn’t using the ‘token’ techniques, at the same time he could revise the underlying basic composition, to make it tighter.

“The Legend of Master Shi” was already to its mid-point, and there hadn’t been any change to Copper’s concern with it. The price for “The Legend of Master Shi” card play hadn’t dropped, and was still much higher than similar card-plays.

But pirated copies which looked like “The Legend of Master Shi” had started to show up on the market; since Chen Mu wasn’t using the ‘token’ skills, it had become very easy for other people to crack. Fortunately, the genuine “Legend of Master Shi card play still had quite a following. As far as the students from Eastern Wei Academy were concerned, money was never the problem, where being able to find something you really liked was the hard part.

Only when they really weren’t able to buy the real card play would they be likely to consider buying a cracked version of “The Legend of Master Shi.”

But Chen Mu didn’t need to give himself any headaches about these matters. “The Legend of Master Shi” had been making money all along, and if you added on what had been delegated to him where almost all the projects were very profitable, he could be estimated to be making a fortune during this time.

But Chen Mu was still feeling pressure; intense pressure!

His perception just then was all attached to the cards, and all of it was money burning stuff. And you didn’t need to mention card making, where Chen Mu had paid out two million on this tailless shuttle card. What he hadn’t considered was how much money it was costing to learn how to operate the tailless shuttle card. While the arena fees could be considered small change, the big hit was in the consumption of power cards.

Although Chen Mu had already reckoned with the immense power of the tailless shuttle card, he hadn’t gone through the actual experience with how much power it would consume, which was much more than he’d imagined.

The cost of a single three-star power-card was 15,000 Oudi, and he basically used up a three-star power card every time he spent three hours training! If this wasn’t burning money, then what was?

If it wasn’t for the his recently making so much money, he would have thrown this tailless shuttle card into the deepest corner of his drawer without any regret. But still he could watch his wallet getting rapidly thinner with his bare eyes.

According to the description inside that mysterious card, there were three kinds of qualifications from bottom to top with the tailless shuttle card. Chen Mu was still only struggling with the first form.

He hadn’t told anyone about this matter of the tailless shuttle card, and not even Copper knew about it. He thought that if Copper were to know, he would certainly put a stop to this extravagant ‘money burning’ activity.

The actual reason that Chen Mu almost hadn’t been going to the club at all was that his calendar was too full. The gymnastic exercises, training his perception, learning how to operate the tailless shuttle card, learning all kinds of knowledge regarding cards, making the card play and completing his commissions . . .

These things occupied just about all of his time, and he knew that if he were to study still more, it would always be good for him. He might not always be able to see these benefits, but he would be able to realize them once they had developed to a certain point. And it would be a shame for him if he didn’t cherish these things that he was lucky to have gotten.

And he didn’t know whether or not it was because of An Xiaoyou’s provocation, but Chen Mu’s thinking was very clear that day, his responses were quick, which also made An Xiaoyou’s gaze more adoring.

The interactive meeting soon began, and Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief, and immediately said farewell to the reluctant An Xiaoyou.

This so-called interactive meeting was actually a commissioned conference. A few companies or groups would post commissions here, and the card masters could choose the projects they preferred, while the commissioning companies could also select the card masters they liked best, and so it was called a two-way meeting.

Chen Mu and Copper were sitting below, while above them were groups and companies, who would elaborate on their company’s projects, and when everyone was finished with their elaborations, the card masters could look for the projects which most interested them.

The first group to elaborate was Aminia, which was under the Zuo household. The Zuo household was the most influential in Eastern Shang-Wei City, with a few dozen companies under their banner, with the Aminia group a quite conspicuous firm; mainly engaged in the apparel business. Sitting to one side in a manner befitting their relative positions, was their most important competitor, the Victoria Group. The Victoria Group was a property of the Pei household. The Zuo household was number one, and the Pei household was number two, and the two groups also displayed the disparity. Aminia always put pressure on the Victoria Group, while the Victoria Group was always biting into Aminia, on the one hand to stabilize their number two position, and on the other to keep the pressure on Aminia.

Copper was quietly giving the background of each company down below, knowing that Chen Mu had absolutely no understanding about such things.

“The unveiling of our company’s apparel lineup for this year will be held in two months, and we have therefore invited the superstar here in front of you, Miss Tan Yumin to be our honored guest.” The one speaking was a formally dressed man. A glance at the name placard in front of him showed that his name was Wu Tuan.

Copper was speaking softly into his ear, introducing Wu Tuan’s background; Chen Mu had to admire Coppers ample preparation, even to the point of letting him hear the kind of grapevine-news that Wu Tuan could be the illegitimate child of the patriarch of the Zuo Household, Zuo Tianlin.

Wu Tuan looked very young, probably about thirty, with a lean face. His gestures showed a strong self-confidence, and he had very clear enunciation, with a calm and confident look.

“I’ve come today hoping to find a card master whose strength stands out from the rest. We require exceptional lighting effects for our opening, and so we have specifically invited the famous creative director of the Weier Card Play Company, Hua Wei. We believe that everyone has seen the card play “A Summer Day’s Talk” for which Mr. Hua Wei was the screenwriter. Director Hua Wei will take on the overall direction of the opening, and we now require one or two outstanding card masters. The terms that we have provided are to give each card master five million Oudi in remuneration!” Wu Tuan held out five fingers, looking down with a smile on his face.

There was a sudden uproar below the platform, since in the entire profession, five million Oudi in compensation would absolutely be considered sky-high!

Looking at the chaotic group of card masters buzzing below, Wu Tuan looked down from his commanding position, with a kind of satisfaction welling up in his chest. He had spent a lot of energy to get this responsibility, and if he could handle it well, it would have great benefit toward his advancement in the family. But if not, if would cause some trouble for him. The seriousness of the internal Zuo family battles went further than anyone else might imagine. No one would dare to provoke Zuo Tingyi, but the rivalry among the later generations had never ended. Otherwise, would he have ever issued this call for card masters?

Chen Mu was surprised, “A Summer Day’s Talk?” Wasn’t that . . .

His look immediately turned to Copper at his side.

Copper showed no expression on his face, but he had a slight twitch on his cheek, and he had a death grip on the back of his chair, popping out his veins.