The Card Apprentice

“Starting today, you will all need to change your method of perceptual training.” Chen Mu spoke calmly. As he saw it, it was a small matter. It was nothing more than an ordinary way to train perception. He didn’t think he had designed a method with anything special about it.

He was nothing more than a nameless pawn himself—not some grand master. Compared to making cards, he had pitifully little understanding of perception. To be able to pound out something that seemed pretty good satisfied him. If perceptual training methods weren’t so hard to get, he wouldn’t have done it himself.

If he hadn’t used the extreme training method from the mysterious card as the basis for his own patchwork, he wouldn’t have had any confidence in what he had made. Fortunately, it had undergone proving with Jiang Liang; its final results seemed good.

The card artisans were trying to hold back how ecstatic they were, though they couldn’t avoid some change in their expressions. Jiang Liang’s miracle had long since spread among all the card artisans. How could they not be excited for such a good thing to now fall into their laps?

Chen Mu had to repeatedly explain every little detail of the snow pit method. By the time he had finished explaining all the details they needed to pay attention to, the place had fallen completely silent. It was the opposite of their previous ecstasy. Everyone’s expression had turned a little ugly as they all looked at one another. What kind of method is this?

Although the snow pit method was a simplification of the extreme training method, there were some challenges in it that still went to the limit. The core principle still hadn’t changed. That also led to it looking so dangerous and violent. There was a real possibility of all kinds of danger showing up. When they thought of burying themselves in a pit of snow, nearly half the people there wanted to escape.

Chen Mu’s expression went cold. “This is an order!”

The card artisans looked at one another, some hesitation floating onto many of their faces. That kind of trial would possibly be fatally dangerous, but…

They were clear that if they were to refuse the orders, they would be immediately eliminated from the team. That result would be harder to take than being killed. Before joining the team, they were just part of a crowd and had no outstanding qualities. They were the object of aces’ ridicule.

Then, everything changed when they joined the team! They’d gotten enviable salaries, along with respect. They were baptized in battle, which quietly changed them. Countless among them had dreamed about entering the flourishing districts, and now they had done it. The card artisans were very proud of their team! Would they like to return to the past? To return to what they didn’t even want to remember? To once again face the scorn and disdain of others? No!

Several of the captains were the first to grit their teeth and jump red-eyed into the snow pits. After seeing the determination with which their captains carried out the orders, the other teammates jumped into the game of snow pits without hesitating.

Sue Lochiro was shocked as she watched from the sidelines with her own eyes. Among several hundred people, not one had disobeyed the order. They had all jumped into snow pits, which might well become their burial ground. All of that was because of the order of a single man! She was shocked when her gaze fell onto Chen Mu, suddenly discovering that she had never really understood that stubborn but extremely powerful man. Staring at Chen Mu in a daze, she had basically forgotten why he had her standing by.

Chen Mu’s expression was calm, but he didn’t feel that way on the inside. All of his perception had been emitted, and its fine tendrils were densely covering every corner of the training ground. He wasn’t thinking about whether he had made a good appeal to that gang of card artisans. Not daring to be the least bit lax, his full concentration was focused on the card artisans in the snow pits.

It was their first time practicing the snow pit method and therefore the most dangerous time. It would be easy for something to happen to them when they weren’t yet used to it. In the end, he couldn’t expect every teammate to the have the same outstanding psychological qualities as Jiang Liang. Once they were under the snow, the outcome could be extremely dangerous if anything unexpected were to happen.

It was his first time to deploy perception to take control of a situation at such a large scale. At the same time, it represented a challenge for Chen Mu. Up until then, all had remained normal. His attention was concentrated as never before; that time, it didn’t only involve one person, but the lives of quite a few people.

Sue Lochiro was watching as though in a trance. Lu Xiaoru and the other 22 card artisans were standing behind Chen Mu, all as though they were confronting a mortal enemy. The apparatuses on their wrists were already in an active state.

Chen Mu suddenly opened his mouth. “The number-53 snow pit!”

Just as the sound fell, the bar-browed man shot out like an arrow to the 53rd pit. He efficiently dug it open, pulling out the card artisan inside. The card artisan’s face had turned blue, and he was unconscious.

The bar-browed man immediately brought the card artisan over to Sue Lochiro in a leap. Sue Lochiro looked like she had just woken from a dream. Remembering her duty, she rushed to start emergency treatment.

“Seventy-one! Ninety-three!”

Two more card artisans were taken out.

The number of unconscious card artisans far exceeded Chen Mu’s expectations. Most of them were struck by too sharp a fluctuation in mood, which had made it impossible to enter the state. If they did enter it, they had no way to use the air among the layers of snow, which led to their going unconscious for lack of oxygen.

Chen Mu sighed. Those card artisans were too deficient in their psychological qualities compared to Jiang Liang. Even though he had repeatedly decreased the standards from where Jiang Liang had been, it remained extremely difficult for them. Thinking about it now, it was lucky he hadn’t told them the extreme training method. Otherwise, he was afraid there would only be a few of those people left alive.

It looked like the standards for the snow pit method were still too high! He hadn’t realized how much more difficult the extreme training method he had studied himself was compared to the new one.

Since they’d had to use snow, the training area was unusually cold inside.

With everyone being so busy, no one realized that a dark scene of hunting and counter-hunting was quietly being played out in the ravine at the same time.

* * *

In Eastern Shang-Wei City, Eastern Wei Academy had already resumed its quiet desolation. The battle between the Zuos and the Eastern Nings had had the most direct impact on Eastern Shang-Wei City, and Eastern Wei Academy had obviously declined quite a bit for the past two years. It had never returned to its former glory during the time of the exchange with the Star Academy.

Two uninvited guests suddenly showed up at the office of the Eastern Wei Academy president. Those two men were both about 30 with nothing special about their appearance, but the president could feel their powerful and terrifying perception!

When they saw the president of Eastern Wei Academy, they didn’t waste words and presented him a letter.

“We ungraduated scholars in the inner academy of the Star Academy have received specific orders to seek your assistance.”

At the same time, at the Star Academy, the old man was standing at the railing where Qing Qing used to lean out and look longingly at the scenery. Beside him stood the director of instruction, Yu Long.

Having been silent for a while, the old man suddenly opened his mouth. “Ah Long, do you feel this information is real or fake?”

Yu Long considered it for a moment before opening his mouth. “I’m having a hard time determining if it’s real or not, but it’s already been five years since we got the news, and we’ve looked into it countless times. Up until now, we still haven’t found a way to be certain.”

“Indeed; there’s no way to determine its authenticity!” The old man looked off into the distance and said with an awed expression, “I don’t know who transmitted it, but it’s been five years! The most awe-inspiring thing is that unless we truly do find out now, there will never be a way to determine the authenticity of this news. Every day we don’t find out is another day we just can’t stop looking.”

Yu Long asked carefully, “Are you thinking someone is secretly pushing this?”

“How could there be wind from a hole?” The old man turned around, and his wrinkled face looked a little helpless. “Even if we were to know it was a setup, we would still jump into it without the slightest hesitation!”

Yu Long looked at the old man, aghast. He had been investigating that information for a full five years without finding the slightest order to it. He had always been convinced by the old man’s judgment, so if what the old man said was true…

After a while, Yu Long’s spirits still remained distracted, and he stammered, “No way. Who would so deliberately plot against us?” Then, he was immediately aroused. “We can completely ignore the situation. We might as well first focus our attention on the matter of Chen Mu here. So long as we get what’s in Chen Mu’s hands, we won’t need anything else.”

The old man shook his head. “I’ve given the matter of Chen Mu over to Qing Qing. We still can’t relax about this matter. I believe even if someone were deliberately setting us up, the bait they tossed out still wouldn’t be without any basis!”

The old man’s tone suddenly changed. “Ah Long, how do you think Qing Qing is doing?”

Yu Long looked puzzled. “Is there something about Qing Qing you’re not pleased with, President?”

The old man sighed. “How could I not be pleased with her? But even though Qing Qing hasn’t said anything, I still know she doesn’t like her current life. I am very conflicted, Ah Long.”

Yu Long looked at the president in consternation.

“I don’t have much time.” When he said that, the old man’s face was optimistic. Soon, however, there was a look of some depression on his face. “Qing Qing has been smart and sensible since she was small. No one would object if only she would take over the Star Academy. I’m not worried about the stability of the Star Academy over the next 50 years. But I’ve watched her grow up…”

“President…”

“Ai, forget about it. We’ll talk about that later.” The old man had lost interest and waved to indicate that Yu Long should leave.

Waiting for the footsteps behind him to leave, the old man’s gaze returned to the scenery. Inexplicably, he started to wonder about what sorts of things would have made Heiner Van Sant show his enthusiasm.

What would this trip to the Heavenly Drum Village District bring for Qing Qing?