Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Ma Jinhua knew that Jiang Binglun did not have a favorable impression of Ning Zhu.

It wasn’t because the girl had done anything wrong.

It was because of her identity as an Ancient God Card Master.

Jiang Binglun despised [Star God Cards], and by extension, he was also wary of [Ancient God Cards].

In the card master world, aside from the lunatics of the Zodiac Society, mainstream card masters also held different views regarding [Star God Cards].

Yang Huaizhou was undoubtedly an optimist. The Star Demon, through the [Star God Cards], created the twelve [Constellation Cards] and their corresponding sequences. It was precisely this system that enabled card masters to achieve unprecedented development.

Thus, he advocated guiding the newly appointed Star God Card master and systematically researching the [Star God Cards], hoping to bring greater breakthroughs to both card masters and human civilization as a whole.

It was much like how pure humans treated technology.

—There is no evil technology, only evil people.

However, Jiang Binglun was undoubtedly a typical pessimist. Although he obeyed Yang Huaizhou’s orders and would not take any initiative, in his heart he harbored extreme disgust toward the [Star God Cards], and even toward the [Constellation Cards].

If he could, he would rather have the card master world regress to what it was a hundred years ago, and he would even want to destroy the [Star God Cards].

Jiang Binglun’s mentality was also easy to understand.

Can humans truly master technologies that exceed their own cognition?

What seems like progress is actually an acceleration toward extinction.

Ma Jinhua said, “I think you should try to let go. Even if the [Star God Cards] were truly destroyed, so what? There would still be other mythic cards.”

She was also an optimist and did not support destroying the [Star God Cards]. Now that a [Ancient God Card] had appeared, it only further proved that such things could never be completely destroyed—they could only be studied and understood.

Ma Jinhua added enthusiastically, “From what I see, the [Ancient God Cards] are even more powerful than the [Star God Cards]! She created a three-star [Spirit Energy Card] in her first year. Her future is limitless!”

Jiang Binglun let out a cold laugh and strode out of the medical room.

Ma Jinhua pouted and muttered softly, “I wonder who it was back then… who nearly lost their life trying to save a ‘Star God Card master’…”

—

Ning Zhu became famous.

This time, she truly became famous across the entire school.

On the first day of class at the start of the semester, everyone had only been watching for amusement.

Her identity as an Ancient God Card Master had also been too unclear to grasp.

But now that this three-star [Spirit Energy Card] had appeared, aside from the ignorant first-year pure-human freshmen, all other students and teachers were completely stunned.

“A prodigy descended from the heavens!”

“Is this the power of the [Ancient God Cards]?!”

“Even Star Demon couldn’t create a three-star card in his first year, right?!”

“Looking at it this way, the [Ancient God Cards] seem even more powerful than the [Star God Cards]!”

It was fortunate that Bai Ze did not browse the school forum. If Bai Maomao saw this, he would be so angry he’d be flying around the room.

The [Star God Cards] are the best!

He had simply disliked that man too much back then and didn’t want to teach him card-making!

Li Leyang, who was suspended from class and copying school regulations, also heard about this incident.

With a snap, his pen tip broke, followed by a string of “holy sh*t” exclamations.

Wang Huan and Chen Mo narrated the events one sentence at a time, almost like a scene reenactment.

Lu Sunyi nodded from the side from time to time, adding, “Too amazing! Absolutely godlike!”

After hearing it all, Li Leyang sat in a daze for a long while.

Wang Huan then added, “Cai Xinji really lost his mind too. To frame Ning Zhu, he actually rolled around on the ground… someone recorded it, damn, I’m going to laugh at him for a whole semester!”

Li Leyang suddenly jumped up and said, “I’m going to say thank you.”

He dashed out the door, leaving his roommates dumbfounded in place.

“Huh?”

“What did Brother Yang say?”

“He’s going to say thank you? To whom?”

Wang Huan and the others didn’t understand, but Li Leyang understood everything perfectly.

He was both moved and excited, and all his earlier embarrassment had been completely washed away.

Li Leyang found Ning Zhu while she was in the dorm teaching Lu Xianle and Lin Ting how to draw cards.

The spirit pattern design of the [Spirit Energy Card] was extremely complicated. Lu Xianle and Lin Ting couldn’t make sense of it no matter how they looked at it, so she simply guided them stroke by stroke.

A knock came at the door. Lu Xianle jumped up and said, “Who is it!” She was exhausted from drawing—it was too difficult—but since Ning Zhu hadn’t complained, she felt embarrassed to give up either.

After a moment, Lu Xianle came back and blinked, saying, “Xiao Zhu, someone’s looking for you.”

Ning Zhu had just finished a stroke. She looked up and said, “Who?”

Lu Xianle said softly, “Li Leyang.”

Ning Zhu paused, then stood up and left the dorm.

The Spirit Card Academy had very loose dorm regulations. Only after 8 p.m. were there clear area restrictions—for example, boys could not go to the girls’ dorm area, and girls could not go to the boys’ dorm area.

At this time, there were no restrictions yet. Of course, Li Leyang wouldn’t enter Ning Zhu’s dorm anyway; he was waiting in the hallway.

When Ning Zhu came out, Li Leyang bowed deeply and said loudly, “Thank you!”

Ning Zhu: “???”

Li Leyang said, “I’m treating you to bubble milk tea. You haven’t been there yet, right? It’s a specialty drink of the Spirit Card Academy. The taste is actually average, but it’s set inside a very special scene card, and inside there are bubble jellyfish everywhere.”

Li Leyang was still as talkative and enthusiastic as ever.

Ning Zhu instantly remembered how the two of them had wandered around happily in the Spirit Charm Land before. Her eyes curved as she smiled and said, “Sure.”

The Spirit Card Academy was very large.

Ning Zhu, Lu Xianle, and Lin Ting had also wandered around after classes, but their level of exploration was far behind someone like Li Leyang, who had grown up in the academy.

Ning Zhu couldn’t use the [Sliding Card], so Li Leyang led her through a shortcut.

About five or six minutes later, they arrived at the bubble milk tea shop.

It was a small shop halfway up the mountain. The entrance was a giant card nearly two meters tall, resembling a tarot card in style. In the center were bubbles spreading outward, looking wet and glossy.

Li Leyang said, “Don’t worry, it won’t get your clothes wet.”

Ning Zhu walked in curiously.

What looked like bubbles had no physical substance at all—it was more like a holographic projection.

After stepping inside, the view suddenly opened up. All around was a pale blue ocean. Countless beautiful jellyfish floated within it, like huge bubbles reflecting dazzling, colorful light. They swam upward gracefully, then quickly dove down again.

Li Leyang said, “They’re [Pet Cards]. You can try touching them.”

Ning Zhu blinked. “Can you really touch them?”

“Of course!” Li Leyang reached out first and touched a bubble jellyfish the size of a soccer ball.

Ning Zhu also reached out and touched one. In that instant, a tingling electric current spread from her fingertip to her forearm. She quickly pulled her hand back, then turned to see Li Leyang’s smiling eyes.

“Heh, they can shock people!”

Ning Zhu also laughed. She wasn’t scared at all—she just found it fun. “If the electricity is strong…”

Li Leyang said, “Then it wouldn’t be a [Pet Card], it would be a [Character Card]!”

“There are really Character Cards that can generate electricity?”

“Of course! Electromancer-type [Warlocks] with lightning elements have similar abilities.”

At that moment, a server came over. Li Leyang ordered two bubble milk teas, then asked Ning Zhu, “How sweet?”

Ning Zhu: “Thirty percent sweetness.”

Li Leyang ordered his at full sweetness.

When paying, Li Leyang insisted on paying first and said, “This is a thank-you drink.”

Ning Zhu still didn’t understand. “Why are you thanking me?”

Li Leyang lowered his voice and said, “Because you punished Cai Xinji!”

“But…” Ning Zhu truly couldn’t keep up with Li Leyang’s thought process. If anyone was going to say thanks, it should be her. Li Leyang getting into conflict with Cai Xinji was also because of her.

Li Leyang said seriously, “I know. You were originally trying to hide your strength and didn’t want to reveal it so early, but in order to punish Cai Xinji, you had no choice but to make a three-star [Spirit Energy Card]…”

Ning Zhu: “???”

Li Leyang continued, “I also support you hiding your strength. After all, there is the Star God Card Master ahead of us—staying low-key is the long-term strategy. I was too impulsive. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have argued with that Cai Xinji bastard and caused you to expose your strength.”

Ning Zhu: “………………”

Bai Ze laughed out loud and said, “This little sheep has really imagined some ridiculous nonsense!”

Li Leyang had indeed imagined a great deal.

Ning Zhu was an Ancient God Card Master.

[Ancient God Cards] were on the same level as [Star God Cards].

Ning Zhu’s strength was beyond doubt. The Bell of Fate had already rung three times for her—was there still any need to question it?

She was simply being humble and low-key.

And see—just a slight display of her skill, and she produced a three-star [Spirit Energy Card], completely crushing all freshmen and more than half of the upperclassmen.

Li Leyang blamed himself and said, “It’s my fault. I couldn’t hold back. If I had known, I wouldn’t have bothered with that Cai Xinji idiot…”

He hadn’t expected Ning Zhu to step in for him.

And that made him so moved he nearly teared up.

Li Leyang then looked at Ning Zhu nervously and said, “So… did this mess up your plan?”

Ning Zhu almost blurted out, “May I ask what plan I even have?”

But seeing how serious and focused Li Leyang’s gaze was, she felt a bit embarrassed to break it.

“Hmm…”

“You don’t need to tell me!” Li Leyang swore, pointing at the sky. “After this incident, I will act carefully and absolutely not hold you back!”

“Uh…”

“I, Li Leyang, always keep my word. Since you value me so much, I won’t let you down!”

“……”

Bai Ze laughed so hard he nearly fell over, while also sneakily drinking Ning Zhu’s bubble milk tea.

After several pauses, Ning Zhu finally found her voice again: “…It’s nothing.”

“How can it be nothing?” Li Leyang said. “If it wasn’t to vent for me, would you have taught Cai Xinji a lesson?”

Ning Zhu: “…” It really wasn’t that deep. She had simply gotten angry when she heard Li Leyang was suspended for three days.

She added, “It was also because you fought him for me…”

“That’s exactly it!” Li Leyang said bitterly. “I was too impulsive and ended up being schemed against by him!”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Li Leyang continued, “In the end, it was still you who dealt with him cleanly and left no trace.”

Ning Zhu: “…………” She suddenly had the feeling of jumping into the Yellow River and still not being able to wash herself clean, although there really wasn’t anything to “wash” in the first place.

Li Leyang asked curiously again, “By the way, what happened to your card ring? Why did it explode?”

Ning Zhu said, “Spiritual energy overload.”

Li Leyang gasped. “I knew it!”

Ning Zhu’s student card suddenly beeped.

Li Leyang said, “It should be a teacher looking for you. Since you don’t have a card ring now, use mine.” He took off his own card ring and handed it to Ning Zhu.

Ning Zhu nodded and placed her student card onto the card ring.

Li Suwen’s projection appeared and said, “Student Ning Zhu, come to my office.”

Ning Zhu: “!”

She quickly recalled everything that had happened during the card-making class and felt that she had left no traces behind.

Jiang Binglun would definitely notice something, but he had no evidence.

With his “fairness” identity, he would presumably not say anything without proof.

Li Leyang said, “Go quickly. Nine times out of ten, it’s about the Three Academies Freshman Cup.”

Ning Zhu blinked. “There’s really a Freshman Cup?”

“Yeah!” Li Leyang, true to his reputation as a walking encyclopedia, was extremely well-informed. “My guess… just a guess, but the principal agreed to hold the Three Academies Freshman Cup because of you. The Mystic Card Academy is even offering a six-star card ring as the first prize… oh my god, a six-star card ring! An ownerless one! It’s basically like Jiang Taigong fishing… cough…”

Li Leyang glanced at Ning Zhu somewhat nervously. “You’re not going to transfer schools, right?”

Ning Zhu looked confused. “Why would I transfer schools?”

“That six-star card ring is clearly aimed at you.”

“……”

“Not having a compatible card ring is very uncomfortable,” Li Leyang explained briefly. “I guess Professor Li wants to teach you how to suppress your spiritual energy… anyway, it’s super uncomfortable. Let me put it this way: suppressing spiritual energy is like running a marathon while carrying another person on your back—exhausting and painful!”

Ning Zhu didn’t even have time to drink her bubble milk tea. Bai Ze simply finished it in one gulp and happily let out a satisfied burp.

Li Leyang couldn’t see any of this. He said, “You can use my card ring to rent a [Sliding Card] first. That’ll be faster. I’ll wait for you here.”

Ning Zhu nodded and thanked him.

Li Leyang waved his hand. “No big deal!”