Ke Jin looked at the person walking towards him in confusion.

There were five of them in total, led by a tall, black-haired man wearing a grey windbreaker. He had handsome and heroic features, deep, dark eyes, and a sharp gaze like an eagle. When he stood in front of Ke Jin, just a simple glance at him made Ke Jin feel an extremely strong pressure.

Uh...it might also be because the other person is a full head taller than me.

The man looked down at Ke Jin, and the black-haired young man's stunned expression was reflected in his dark eyes.

"Kejinka Envoy?" The man's voice was mellow and magnetic. If his tone could be softer, he would probably charm a lot of voice-controlled little girls.

"Uh... yes, I am." Ke Jin was very confused, "You are...?"

"Ning Qiyuan." The man extended his hand, still in a serious and slightly distant tone, "I am the card envoy of the Zhoufu's 'Origin' Food Card Pool."

Is he also a card envoy? Or is he from Zhoufu?

While wondering why the card envoy of Zhoufu would come to a small place like Qixing City, Ke Jin politely shook the other person's hand. The man's hand was broad and strong, but too cold, just like his cold and indifferent temperament, which made people feel even more distant and cold.

Ke Jin originally thought that the other party would say something else, but after shaking hands, Ning Qiyuan looked at him carefully a few more times, then nodded, said "see you later", and left with the four people behind him.

Ke Jin: “???”

"It's incomprehensible." Oloy rolled his eyes at the group of people and expressed what Ke Jin was thinking.

These guys had been staring at them from across the street for a long time, just to come over and say hello? What on earth were they doing here?

Ke Jin looked at those people walking into Su Yufeng's Kachi yard and seemed to understand something.

"Oh...are they here to look for Su Yufeng?"

Although Su Yufeng's card pool has declined, he once opened a chain card pool in Zhoufu in the past. It was not surprising that he was acquainted with the card users of Zhoufu, so Ke Jin didn't think much about it and took Ou Nuo towards the station.

***

When Ning Qiyuan and his group walked into the yard, Uncle Zhou and Su Yufeng were sitting at a stone table under a maple tree discussing the collaboration with Ke Jinkachi.

When Su Xiaolan learned that her brother was finally willing to cooperate with Ke Jin, she was extremely happy and excited, and sat aside very actively - even though she didn't know much about it, she hoped to do something within her ability during the preparation stage.

The three people were discussing, and Su Xiaolan's position happened to be able to see the scene at the gate of the yard. She was suddenly startled and spoke to Su Yufeng with a grim expression.

"Brother, those guys are here again."

Su Yufeng and Uncle Zhou immediately looked towards the gate of the yard. The former frowned slightly, and the latter also looked a little helpless and unhappy.

Ning Qiyuan walked to the stone table and saw that none of Su Yufeng and the others stood up to greet him. He was not angry but sat down calmly. The other four stood behind him. The girl with long light blue hair spoke first, her voice as cold as ice.

"Mr. Su, what do you think?"

Su Yufeng glanced at his sister, and Uncle Zhou understood, and immediately stood up and pulled Su Xiaolan to the house. Su Xiaolan was reluctant at first, but Su Yufeng looked at her, and the serious look was something Su Xiaolan had never seen before. The girl's heart trembled, and although she was worried about her brother, she finally followed Uncle Zhou reluctantly and left.

After seeing Su Xiaolan's figure completely disappear, Su Yufeng took out a card from his arms and pushed it directly in front of Ning Qiyuan.

It was a pure white card, and under the sunlight, the surface of the card emitted a soft milky white glow. There were five golden stars arranged at the position where the card marked the rank - this was the rank rating only available to supernatural cards, and "Golden Five Stars" was already considered a high-end card among supernatural cards.

Ning Qiyuan looked at the card pushed in front of him expressionlessly, and looked at Su Yufeng with a darker look: "Are you refusing to cooperate with us?"

Su Yufeng nodded with a calm expression.

"Mr. Su, have you really thought it through?" The long-haired girl, Leng Liangxue, shook her head and said, "This is a healing card drawn from the most famous 'Fountain of Youth' life card pool in the Empire Galaxy. If you use it, your body will be restored to its original state in an instant - not only will you be able to regain the ability to speak, but you will not be disturbed by any illness for a year. You are still so young, are you really willing to be a useless person who can never speak?"

Su Yufeng looked cold and indifferent. These people had come several times before. When Leng Liangxue forced the card on him yesterday, he did struggle and hesitate, but in the end he could not convince himself, so he chose to give up.

"Mr. Su," Ning Qiyuan crossed his arms and stared sharply at the young man opposite him, "I can actually understand your feelings - this card pool is the family business created by your late parents with years of hard work and efforts. You inherited their will, and even though your ability is limited, you have been forcing yourself to work hard to run this 'family business'."

"But times have changed. The current Seven Star City is no longer the most glorious it was in the past. When your father was alive, this card pool was at its peak, and it will never happen again. You have indeed worked hard, but many things cannot be changed by hard work. Let me be frank - with your current ability and level, it is impossible for you to manage this card pool well, let alone save its decline. Even if you refuse to merge with us, one day... it will be destroyed by your own hands."

The man's voice was steady and his tone was firm. Every word he said was as sharp as a nail and hit home. Su Yufeng's face gradually turned pale. Even though he knew that the other party was just provoking him, he was still greatly shocked when his most secret thoughts were suddenly revealed so bluntly.

Ning Qiyuan observed Su Yufeng's reaction calmly, softened his tone at the right time, and continued to persuade him.

"In fact, merging with our pool does not mean that all traces of your pool will be completely wiped out." He said, "Although many cards will be discarded during this period, and the previous card system will be completely overturned, the current situation of your pool is already precarious. Only by integrating it into our system can it continue in another form - this is not annihilation, but self-rescue. If your parents were still alive, they would definitely agree with this decision. After all, that kind of weird 'curse' can never be solved by sticking to the status quo."

Su Yufeng did not express his opinion for a long time.

Su Yufeng understood all of what Ning Qiyuan said. He had been thinking about it these days and recalled many past events. He awakened as a card master when he was very young, but he did not want to be a card master. He always wanted to leave Qixing City, or even leave Azure Star. He wanted to go to a farther place to study and travel, instead of staying in the small card pool yard all his life to inherit his father's business. But after the car accident, when he woke up and found that he had lost his most beloved relatives, his thoughts changed drastically.

——He no longer longs for the future, he just wants to keep the past.

His father was a card master and his mother was a card maker. The card pool they left behind carries all the memories and traces of their lives. As a card master, although Su Yufeng awakened early, his talent and ability are very ordinary. The older the card pool, the higher the requirements for the card master - it is an extremely mysterious aura and inspiration that can maintain the life and vitality of the card spirit, can perceive the aging and changes of the card pool, can control the evolution and transformation of the cards, and can even bring the dead back to life, so that the card pool in desperate situation can re-condense its luck and rejuvenate.

But Su Yufeng can't do these.

Since he inherited this card pool, he has been living in anxiety and torment every day. He doesn't want the card pool left by his parents to fall into decline in his hands, but he has to watch the situation of the card pool deteriorate. Merging the pool with Ning Qiyuan and others may be a way out, but that means erasing all traces of his parents' left in the card pool; but if he continues to manage it by himself, the third card pool has been completely ruined, and the second card pool has also shown signs of being polluted. What's next?

Is this terrible deterioration a strange "curse" or a punishment for his "unworthy position"?

How should he choose?

Feeling extremely confused, Su Yufeng subconsciously looked at the few pages of white paper at hand, which contained some plans and notes about the linkage with Ke Jin Card Pool that he and Uncle Zhou had just discussed. Ning Qiyuan followed Su Yufeng's gaze and read over. Although he didn't read it in detail, a few key words on the paper still caught his eye. Combined with Leng Liangxue's previous report and the encounter outside the door just now, Ning Qiyuan understood it in an instant.

"Su Yufeng, do you really think that cooperating with Card Envoy Ke Jin can save your card pool?" The man shook his head disapprovingly.

"No one can save you except the pool. Your indecision will not only make your pool situation worse, but will also implicate many innocent people. You feel sorry for your parents if you merge with us, but if you keep delaying and more pools in Qixing City are affected, do you think your parents can truly rest in peace if they find out?"

Su Yufeng's pupils suddenly contracted.

——Let more card pools in Qixing City be affected?

What does this...mean?

***

"What? Are you really going to collaborate with that card pool?" Qi's eyes widened when he heard Ke Jin talking about this. "It's decided so quickly? Have you really done a good job of research?"

Ke Jin gave a brief account of what he saw after entering the card pool. Qi was stunned for a long time after listening to him, and then he looked at Ke Jin from head to toe again as if he were a monster.

"Crazy. Crazy. You're really crazy." Qi shook his head and muttered, "Other card users would have avoided that ominous card pool long ago, but you, stupidly, actually went there!"

"No." Ke Jin disagreed, "When we came out, we saw other card masters looking for Su Yufeng, and they were card masters from Zhou Mansion."

Qi frowned: "The card envoy of Zhou Prefecture...? Could that card envoy's last name be Ning?"

"Eh?" Ke Jin was stunned. "Yes, that person said his name was Ning Qiyuan... Do you know him?"

Qi had originally just made a casual guess, but he had actually guessed it right. He was stunned for a long while before he came to his senses.

"Is it really Ning Qiyuan?" Qi's expression was very strange, "He actually came to Qixing City?"

"Do you know him?" Ke Jin asked curiously, "An acquaintance?"

Qi immediately shook his head: "That's not the case, it's just that before I came to Qixing City, I worked in Zhou Mansion for a while, um... I know this person."

Ke Jin stared at Qi speechlessly: "...just 'knowing'?"

"Uh... I did a little research on him."

Ke Jin laughed dryly: "... Just an 'investigation'?"

"Uh... okay, I admit that I wanted to take action on his card pool." Qi shrugged, "After all, his card pool is the largest card pool in the state, and it has also been rated 'Gold'. I will definitely go and take a look."

The card pool also has a rating system, namely "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", "King" and "Legend", but there is no special card pool rating committee on the Blue Star. If you want a rating, card users need to go to the main star of the Aquarius galaxy, "Aquarius", to apply. The process is very cumbersome, so most of the card pools on the Blue Star are in an "unrated" state.

"The largest card pool in the province?" Ke Jin exclaimed, "And it's rated gold, so amazing!"

Oloy rolled his eyes as he listened to this - it was just a small gold rating, how could it be so great!!

"It's amazing." Qi's voice suddenly became muffled. Perhaps he recalled what happened at that time, and his expression became depressed. "I didn't succeed either."

Oloy burst out laughing and glanced at the silver-haired young man: "Are you really capable? You can't even get a small gold card pool? You are so weak."

"Your card pool is unrated, but I failed too, didn't I?" Qi glared at the boy. He was very calm about his past failures. "And the reason I didn't succeed wasn't because I'm not as skilled as others, but because..."

Qi suddenly paused, his expression became slightly serious, and his voice became a little deeper.

"It's Ning Qiyuan's card pool, which is very strange."