The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu’s come-on was clever. The chair went straight toward the hole in the center of the glowing rings, looking as though it would penetrate them. With a light zing, the chair instantly flew apart into countless shards.

The more frightening thing was that the shards were each only the size of a fingertip. However, the luster of the glowing rings seemed to dim a little.

With so much commotion in the meeting room, no other card artisan could have reacted. But how could they match the elite of the Central Repository of the Classics?

Suddenly, the energy fluctuations of dozens more card artisans appeared, approaching rapidly. If they didn’t leave now, they wouldn’t be able to.

With no hesitation, Chen Mu shrank back down toward the drainpipe opening and jumped into it. He was like a genuine mudfish with his big mudfish card, as slippery as could be.

Just as he entered the pipe, there was a blast from above. Chen Mu surged rapidly ahead to get away. Then, there was a light pop as Wei-ah slightly flexed his legs and settled beneath the floor.

The two of them bolted madly ahead. Since they were familiar with the topology in front of them, Chen Mu opened up his jet stream card to the max. Wei-ah followed closely behind, the two of them plunging madly ahead along the drainpipe.

Hong, hong, hong!

Behind them, several stout, glowing beams exploded down from above, turning the drainpipes a bright white. Chen Mu looked like he was being propelled forward, and the gravel blown up by the shock waves stung when it hit his back.

Chen Mu flew in alarm across those short several dozen meters as gravel kept falling from the top of the pipe. The pipe behind him had already completely collapsed. The pipe ahead of them looked like it could collapse at any time, and if it did, they would have a hard time escaping the fate of being buried alive.

To be buried alive beneath ten meters of ground, they couldn’t even think of surviving, no matter how awesome they were.

Their speed had been taken to the max, though of course that was only for Chen Mu. Chen Mu had never witnessed how fast Wei-ah could actually go.

When they arrived at the small storehouse, Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. As he thought about that extremely risky scene, he felt some faint excitement. He had just done something really great without the least sense of fear. It looks like I am becoming a better and better fighter, Chen Mu thought.

He took a stealthy look outside the window. Card artisans filled the sky, scanning furiously for Chen Mu and Wei-ah. They never thought the two of them had escaped to the little storehouse. Those who hadn’t seen the plot plan had no idea the small drainpipe under the meeting room was connected to the storehouse.

Without needing to say anything, Chen Mu and Wei-ah looked at one another and charged through the hole they had opened earlier.

Sticking to the base of the wall, Chen Mu opened his speed all out. He didn’t dare to lift his head for fear that paying the least bit of attention could decrease his speed by some infinitesimal amount. If they were to slow in the least at that crucial time, things would turn utterly miserable. Facing such enraged card artisans required a lot of strength and courage. Chen Mu certainly wasn’t going to play any games with his life.

Even though Chen Mu’s moves were already rather stealthy, he was still discovered by the card artisans in the air.

“There they are!” someone shouted. Several wavy blades then quickly shot toward Chen Mu.

None of them hit him, but they did indicate their objective to all the card artisans floating in midair. Like a burning keg of gunpowder, countless energy bodies abruptly intertwined like raindrops, smashing toward Chen Mu and Wei-ah.

Since when had Chen Mu enjoyed such treatment? His heart raced as the big mudfish card meshed with his pace. It increased his speed until he was like a wisp of smoke, too fast to follow.

The card artisans in the sky were a little freaked out; their adversaries only flew so fast, but they kept changing direction erratically, which meant their energy bodies would just miss. The two assassins were sticking close to the ground in their flight, taking advantage of the cover of buildings. No one could guess in which direction they would run next.

Someone then shouted when they saw that the two of them would escape everyone’s field of vision. “Go in pursuit!”

The command immediately alerted everyone, and dozens of card artisans went chasing after them.

Since when had those card artisans been so humiliated? The adversaries had mounted a stealth attack right under the noses of the two great men, Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing. That was too detestable! The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans opened up their jet stream cards to the fullest, itching to chase after those damned guys and blow them to smithereens.

Qiao Yuan had a cold expression as he said to Mi Xiaqing, “Young disciple, you lead those back here for a bit while I take a look around.”

“Ok.” Mi Xiaqing didn’t waste words. Although he couldn’t wait to surge ahead and kill those damned guys, he still hadn’t lost his reason. If they both ran, they would abandon where they were.

That worthless, run-down base wouldn’t mean anything if it were lost, but Ren Wenzhou and Qian Mingyi were still under guard there. If anything were to happen to them, that wasn’t a loss they could sustain.

After he spoke, Qiao Yuan flew up into the air.

He quickly caught up with his comrades. When the other card artisans saw him, they were suddenly humiliated to death. Never mind the rest of it; for that gang of elites to be so easily infiltrated was enough to turn their faces pale.

Qiao Yuan didn’t say anything as his gaze fell onto the two running wildly in front of him. His expression remained calm, though no one could see what he was really thinking. His gaze stayed focused on those two disappearing and reappearing men.

They had outstanding power, especially the one wearing the black mask, who he’d narrowly missed. He must have been an ace from some cardless sect! The other one was a little weird, having some of the peculiarity of a cardless sect, though he could also use cards. His pace was the weirdest drifting Qiao Yuan had ever seen.

The more he thought about that ace of the cardless sect, who could blast apart his own energy cloak with a fist, the more Qiao Yuan’s heart pounded. The assassin with the black mask was the most awesome cardless sect ace he had ever seen. How many years had it been since the cardless sects had faded away? He wasn’t sure. But he had never heard of an ace from some cardless sect able to get to such a place. That was really something! He never thought that not only would he see one that day, but he would also get a taste of one.

Their speed might not have been considered fast, but they never went in a straight line, shifting right and left. They took advantage of the buildings for all kinds of cover, as though they were masters of shuttling about in the dark. They seemed to be one with the dark, able to melt into the shadows so easily.

He didn’t rush to make a move, wanting to watch and see where the two assassins had really come from and what their objective was.

Chen Mu didn’t dare turn around, though he had disseminated his perception. His surroundings were clear. He didn’t know whether anyone else’s perception was like his, but he had just then discovered that his own perception was getting more and more awesome. That wasn’t because of the increase in his perceptual power or sensitivity; it was some other peculiarity.

For example, his perception was sensitive to things that had no energy fluctuations. So long as they were within the scope covered by his perception, the finest detail would be within his grasp.

That was a rather peculiar sort of perception, which was why he could so skillfully dodge the energy bodies shot off by the card artisans pursuing him from behind. It was as though he had eyes in the back of his head.

Beside him, Wei-ah wasn’t making any noise.

The ground was covered in ruins, which was a big advantage for Chen Mu, who could freely choose his route. In reality, however, he had arranged the route beforehand.

Chen Mu felt like an out-and-out rookie. Since he had so little experience, he had done a lot more work preparing. Their preparation had been thorough, and both Bogner and Xi Ping had provided quite a few precious suggestions. They had also found some under them who were really good at planning to help perfect their scheme.

Chen Mu and Wei-ah were like ghosts as they went shuttling through the ruins. The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans behind them hadn’t stopped what they had been doing. They ceaselessly emitted lethal energy bodies, hoping to extinguish the shame the two crawling bugs had brought them.

A straight drive then ended in the huge gate of a manor. A strangely cold smile appeared at the corner of Chen Mu’s mouth.

There was a sudden, low-sounding question shouted from in front of them. “Who goes there?”

Chen Mu wasn’t listening, and even the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans paid no attention. When had anyone been able to yell at them like that? Who among those arrogant lords didn’t have his nose in the air?

“Halt! Don’t move, or I won’t be so polite!” Their counterpart immediately issued a warning. Chen Mu sped up instead and charged right into the manor.

“Damn!” His counterpart was clearly enraged. Countless energy bodies abruptly shot toward Chen Mu. He could accurately detect his adversary’s position in the face of so many energy fluctuations starting up.

Lightly pressing down on his feet, Chen Mu dodged the attack. He dodged endless energy bodies as they continued head-on into the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics.

That basically put a fire in their bellies, and the card artisans’ tempers raged at the impossibility of taking a loss.

“Hey, I didn’t know someone was looking to die!” one of the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics yelled coldly as he threw a shuttle from his hand. There was a sudden scream from inside the manor.