Chapter 12

From a young age, her father, mother, and brother—all her family members—told her that they loved her.

She doesn't need to be strong, she doesn't need to work hard, she doesn't need to suffer, because her loving family will protect her.

Like her brother, Hua Xin also entered the Card Master Preparatory School when she reached the required age.

Her classmates didn't seem to like her that much; she heard them say things like "mental strength C+", "that guy's sister", and "not good enough". But it's okay, her family still loves her. They encourage her all the time, stand up for her, and tell her "it's okay".

"It's okay if you go to a regular college, your brother will protect you."

"Who bullied you? Tell Daddy, and Daddy will protect you."

But... Hua Xin's family never answered her real questions.

How exactly do I pass the exam?

How exactly can she defeat those who demand she "show her qualifications"?

How can I make friends without telling the teacher?

Perhaps her family didn't love her that much either?

Hua Xin shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind. How could that be? She must have done something wrong, causing her family to misunderstand.

...

The exams at the Card Academy Preparatory School naturally involved the use of cards. At this moment, Hua Xin was in a misty swamp, with wisps of miasma rising from the water and mixing with the fog.

"Survive in the Misty Swamp for three hours to win..."

In this simulated realm called the "Misty Swamp," toxins damage the bodies of outsiders, making them unable to survive for long. However, by killing the creatures within the Misty Swamp, one can obtain antidotes.

It sounds like passing this test is very simple; as long as you keep killing the native beasts and avoid being killed by the poisonous miasma, you will succeed.

However, Hua Xin knew it wasn't that simple. Humans, too, are a kind of living being.

Using the summoning card [Bluebird], she witnessed a battle taking place in the beast colony. Her classmates initially went in teams, but after defeating the beasts, chaos ensued. Many began consciously killing each other.

Hua Xin didn't understand.

Why were they able to so easily stab their former teammates in the back? Even if this is virtual, even if this is just an exam.

She couldn't understand it.

The bluebird, hiding among the thick reeds, carried the victor's conversation to its master.

"How many did you kill in this match?"

Five? And you?

"That's not enough. I killed thirteen this time. By the way, did you see the youngest daughter of the Hua family?"

"I really didn't see her. Could she have been killed on her way here?"

"It shouldn't be that bad. Even if she's useless, she can still get two top-tier cards from the Hua family—unlike us, we have to fight for our own cards."

"Tsk. Why should someone like her be born into the Hua family? If I were a descendant of the Hua family..."

"Heh heh, if she's deliberately avoiding the chaotic battlefield, then we're doomed. Only beast herds can drop enough antidote materials. Relying solely on hunting lone beasts will eventually lead to her poisoning."

The girl summoned the bluebird back.

Even without any talent, Hua Xin had figured out his teachers' thoughts during his years of schooling.

Only through fighting and competing can we achieve victory and success.

In this assessment, trying to avoid combat—avoiding battles between people—is not an option.

But that's the general case.

The girl activated the newly purchased cards.

A verdant branch appeared out of thin air, with seven lush green leaves growing on it, and six buds about to bloom nestled between the leaves and the branches.

This is the final product of the healing card, which Hua Xin named "Seven Leaves and Six Flowers." Each leaf can heal one injury, and each flower can remove one poison. Once all the leaves and flowers have been used, the card will become invalid and will need to be reactivated using mental energy.

With this modification, the card overcomes the original limitation of not being able to simultaneously detoxify and heal.

Hua Xin was neither injured nor showed any signs of poisoning, but she swallowed a flower bud without hesitation. The bittersweet taste invigorated her.

Waiting until signs of poisoning appear before administering antidote creates a considerable window of vulnerability. If attacked during this period…

Therefore, her classmates probably won't give her a chance to pass the exam.

Three hours later.

Because of the assessment, school let out early. Hua Ximan calculated the time in advance and came to pick up her younger sister herself.

Given his sister's personality, he didn't expect her to pass this test. In fact, if it weren't for Hua Xin's insistence, and the fact that her mental strength was just right at the entrance level, he wouldn't have let Hua Xin attend the Card Master Preparatory School at all.

He had prepared gifts—an enormous doll and two tickets to a holographic amusement park—to comfort his younger sister who had failed her exams. He was also willing to give her more pocket money if she wanted it. He thought he was well-prepared, but he was still slightly surprised when his sister appeared.

The girl, her face flushed with excitement, ran over and threw herself into her older brother's arms. He heard her excited voice: "I passed!"

"Brother, I won the bet—you haven't forgotten what you promised, have you?"

...

During the third week of practical classes, Ning Xi was still struggling to deal with the materials.

After dozens of attempts to adjust the material, her technique became slightly distorted. In a moment of error, the spontaneously combustible material fell onto her hand, burning a sizable scar.

"Ning, be careful."

Teaching assistant Xia, carrying a healing card, promptly treated her wound. However, the burning pain lingered, reminding her of what had just happened.

"If you're tired, take a break," Xia, the teaching assistant, winked at her. "Slow and steady wins the race."

Ning Xi smiled at her.

She thought her physical strength was already strong enough, but after being in the academy for a few days, she realized that physical strength and hand strength are not entirely the same thing.

Ning Xi stopped what she was doing, used voice commands to access the computer panel, and entered the card maker forum.

"So many orders?"

You wouldn't believe it until you look. Her profile showed over thirty card-making requests. Even after removing the high-level cards she couldn't make, there were still over twenty orders she could accept.

After browsing the forum for a while, she roughly understood what was going on. It turned out that the person who commissioned the healing card had posted that her commission had been completed and even posted her account information.

This post has generated a lot of discussion.

[666, could it be that some big shot made a move?]

【You call yourself a big shot? The person who took the order is a newbie, are you blind?】

[Maybe it's a high-level player's alt account?]

[Emm... how much does one of these hyped-up posts cost?]

[Hey, are you hyping up some genius newbie again? I've already said that card making is an experience-based discipline; without investing time and money, it's almost impossible to succeed.]

[I've assigned a task to a newcomer, and I hope they won't look through all the options and then come back saying they're "too busy to have time."]

Of course she wouldn't refuse; after all, these commissions all come with money. She's still waiting for the money.

Ning Xi waved her hand and accepted all the E-level commissions with flexible time limits.

After class, she began to study one of the commissions.

[Craft an E-rank card that combines defensive and damage-reflecting characteristics.]

Defense and damage reflection are also a classic combination. Ning Xi doesn't even need to spend too much effort to find many suitable array combinations.

So why would you specifically seek her out for such a simple request?

Judging from the tone of the posts, she thought they were going to give her a lot of strange tasks to test her.

“The materials can be made from sago palm and thorny vine. This is a symbiotic material. The thorny vine absorbs nutrients from the sago palm, protects it from external enemies, and even obtains nutrients from some small animals.”

Ning Xi ordered these two materials from the academy shop. The prices at the academy shop were slightly higher, but the quality was guaranteed. Only with such materials could she feel at ease using them to make the cards needed for the commission.

She still had the remaining ingredients stored in her dormitory.

Ning Xi drank a bottle of nutrient solution and began to work on this card.

After several trials, the card was completed. Ning Xi set the card aside, planning to test it again when Zhang Min had time. She then went back to the forum to begin researching the next card.

[Craft an E-rank card that combines speed and defense.]

This request likely requires a support card. Ning Xi pondered for a moment and sent a message to the client: "Do you need a vehicle, an amplification card, a spell card that combines both of these properties, or some other type of card?"

The reply came quickly: "Whatever, as long as you can actually do it."

"How can you just say that?" Ning Xi was completely confused, but since he had said so, she couldn't find fault with it. She left the forum and began to study the cards.

Coincidentally, these E-rank card requests all required the creation of cards combining two attributes, which highly overlapped with what she had learned in her practical classes. It was as if... homework had been specifically assigned to her.

After making several cards, Ning Xi became more and more skilled. In just two days, she made ten cards. She spent a morning testing them with Zhang Min to make sure that there were no major flaws in the cards, and then she sent the cards to the clients.

...

"It's really done? It's only been two days..." Gu Chengfei was still a little doubtful when she saw the words "Submitted, awaiting confirmation" in large letters on the commission interface.

I feel... the chances of being scammed are still quite high. But thankfully, the forum has a robust appeal mechanism, so clients won't waste their money.

Gu Chengfei believed he had extensive experience in card making, and he was sure he could recognize any tricks the maker might have used.

After obtaining the cards from the card transport transfer station, Gu Chengfei entered the password and entered the card testing room.

With his limited financial resources, he certainly couldn't afford to set up a dedicated card testing room. However, he worked for a small mercenary group, and the boss, after being persuaded by others a couple of years ago, purchased some equipment and set up a card testing room, which he also took advantage of.

Gu Chengfei put the card into the reader.

He's a low-level card master who also knows a bit about card repair and even some card crafting. Students from academic backgrounds might find this hard to imagine, but for members of small to medium-sized card-collecting groups, this jack-of-all-trades approach is actually the most economical.

With these abilities, although Gu Chengfei's combat strength was average, he did quite well within the mercenary group. The reason he posted a commission on the forum was because of an additional requirement from his boss.

His son is eleven years old and has reached the age to learn about cards. The boss wants some cool E-rank cards, such as a shield card that can reflect damage.

The boss himself is a card master who uses a counter-damage build, so he doesn't think this request is difficult. But Gu Chengfei is very clear about it.

A shield card that can reflect damage—this kind of card is a real headache among E-rank cards!

As for creating non-E-level cards? Gu Chengfei hadn't even considered it. An eleven-year-old's mental abilities weren't fully developed; if he were to be induced to use higher-level cards… well, let's just say the Federation has a complete set of criminal laws.

But if he fails to meet his boss's requirements, will he still receive his year-end bonus on time?

Despite the financial pain, Gu Chengfei posted the request on the forum.

But nobody accepted it.

The few scattered comments under the commission post were still criticizing him for being delusional, wanting to create such a difficult card with such a small commission fee.

Therefore, with the thought that "it might not hurt to give it a try," he sent the commission application to a supposedly highly skilled new card maker.

He doesn't have that much money, so will this commission really be accepted?

Even if it is accepted, can the commission really be completed?

While Gu Chengfei was lost in thought, the reader had already started operating, spitting out strings of raw data from the card tests.

This reader is an old machine discarded by a major guild. It is not equipped with super AI, so the raw data it generates is either manually identified or packaged and sent to Wanxiang System for paid processing into a test report.

For the past two years since the reader was purchased, Gu Chengfei has been the one operating it. He has used the machine thousands of times and is already familiar with the location of some key parameters.

Ignoring those useless parameters, Gu Chengfei went straight to the card's strength.

"Card stability: Medium; Card defensive capability: High."

Excellent, at least it really is a defensive card. A glimmer of hope ignited in Gu Chengfei's heart. According to the parameters, the defensive function only occupies 62% of the card's total space. As long as the remaining 38% is not entirely redundant, there is hope for counter-damage.

Please, it absolutely must have a counter-damage effect, even if it's just a slight one!

"The card's ability to reflect damage is high."

The data popped up along with Gu Chengfei's phone ringtone. He hurriedly answered the call, but his mind was elsewhere, his eyes greedily scanning the remaining data.

"Hello, Gu Chengfei." The person calling him was a colleague he had a good relationship with, a low-level healing card master with some skill.

"As you said, I told the boss that those cards are really hard to make. He's softened his stance now and will let you make an E-grade defense card for the kid to play with. When he's older, he can use the D-grade cards that the boss himself discards..."

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no longer needed'?"

"I've found that card!"

"Gu Chengfei? Don't get agitated. Although the boss has a good temper, if you try to deceive him with tricks, the consequences will be severe."

"Really," Gu Chengfei said, ignoring the warning in the other person's words, "Come and see, I'm in the card testing room!"