Four Equipment Purchases
After dinner, Yu Xiangyin and Ning Xi walked through the crowds toward the commercial street.
Regarding the distribution of combat supplies, Ning Xi believed that Yu Xiangyin was the one who actually did the work, while she was only responsible for talking, so the lion's share should go to Yu Xiangyin.
Yu Xiangyin said that without Ning Xi, he would never have been able to kill the giant tree, so the lion's share should go to Ning Xi.
Ning Xi laughed: "So, does that mean I could have killed the giant tree on my own without you?"
Ultimately, the two decided to split the profits 50/50.
Seeing that Ning Xi looked normal, Yu Xiangyin breathed a sigh of relief; "It's so good that you're alright."
“What could possibly happen to me?” Ning Xi said. “Although Luo Xian is despicable, there’s something he said that makes sense—if I were truly a genius, I would have been snapped up by all the top academies long ago, instead of ending up in the field.”
Mentioning Luo Xian, Yu Xiangyin pursed her lips: "By the way, are you really planning to apply for the card-making department?"
"Of course. You wouldn't advise me to give up too, would you? I think this major is excellent—it's my dream major."
“I won’t discourage you.” Yu Xiangyin shook his head. He took out his [Musician] and stroked it carefully. “Natural cards with spirit are ultimately a minority. Most of us still need to use the works of card makers.”
"But for those who aspire to the top, there is no point in not serving the strongest."
"Hmm, so are we going to the card museum again today?"
Yu Xiangyin paused for a moment, then opened her personal terminal: "It probably won't work today, but we can reserve a spot for tomorrow."
"Actually, no reservation is needed. Museums are no longer as popular as they used to be."
"Thank you for your help."
The two headed to the commercial street. After confirming that Ning Xi wanted to study card making, Yu Xiangyin took her to the largest department store near the college.
They first sold the wood core, earning 11,324 star coins, with each person receiving 5,000 in change. Then, Yu Xiangyin took out the [Musician] and gave it to the shop for repair.
"I'll pay," Ning Xi said to the shop assistant, stepping forward. Her personal terminal was the basic model, but it still had payment functionality.
"Okay, the repair cost is 7,000 star coins."
So expensive?
Ning Xi's incredulous expression was noticed by the others. A sneer came from not far away, and two young students in casual clothes approached her and Yu Xiangyin: "Our S-level genius thinks cards are cheap?"
"What a joke! Card games are the most expensive major. Without the support of your family or academy, you won't even learn a hair of card games, let alone learn them."
"Our S-class genius, I thought he could become a card maker by himself."
“Don’t even mention it,” another young man lowered his voice, a lewd smile spreading across his face, “what if some sucker is willing to be her ATM? After all, there are plenty of simps out there—”
"Shut up!"
Yu Xiangyin instinctively wanted to retort, but remained silent. He wanted to say that he wasn't a simp, but suddenly realized that if he did, it would be tantamount to not denying that Ning Xi intended to use him. He couldn't slander Ning Xi's character.
Ning Xi asked calmly, "Are you from Luo Xian's patrol team?"
"Otherwise what? Are you another prospective candidate like yourself?" the team member sneered.
"Okay." Having made up her mind, she ignored the two of them. "Yu Xiangyin, my treasure is still in your space card. Can you take it out?"
"Shop assistant, does your shop accept the lowest-grade materials from mythical beasts?"
The shop assistant nodded, and a huge package was tossed out. Ning Xi opened it, revealing a bag full of E-grade alien beast materials. The shop assistant put on gloves, took out a detector, and began to inspect the materials.
"Grade E Shangluo Grass, 50 Star Coins; Grade E Dandelion, 150 Star Coins; Grade E Superior Cocklebur, 500 Star Coins..."
As the shop assistant subtly pointed out the price, the two patrolmen's expressions grew increasingly grim. Although the price of E-grade materials was far lower than that of D-grade materials, the cumulative effect was still considerable.
"Did she rob the warehouse? How can she have so many materials?"
"Who knows how an ordinary person like her got all this stuff? Maybe she stole it from someone else..."
“I brought this from the domain. It should be common sense that E-class alien beasts can be harmed by ordinary people or autonomous robots.” Ning Xi stepped forward, staring intently at the man who spoke. “Sir, if you believe I have violated interstellar civil law, call the police. Call them now. Yu Xiangyin, what is the police siren for this area?”
Her movement of taking out her terminal was so quick that the person who spoke frowned, looking somewhat aggrieved: "I was just saying a few words... Can't I even say a few words?"
"If you won't call the police, I will. Hello, this is a commercial area, and someone is falsely accusing me of theft."
"Crazy woman!"
The patrolman swung his fist, seemingly wanting to punch her. But his companion held him back.
"Forget it, no need to bother with someone with such a mental disability. Anyway, she'll soon reveal her true colors."
Encountering someone like that is truly unlucky. Ning Xi shook her head and turned her attention back to the shop assistant.
The materials she brought back from the realm eventually sold for over 20,000 star coins, far exceeding her expectations.
When the army told her that "you can sell these things for some money," their tone was too casual, and she always thought that these materials were worth at most a thousand or so yuan.
But she didn't feel happy.
Nearly a hundred E-grade materials cost only twice as much as a single D-grade material. It's easy to imagine that as a card master's skill increases, their wealth will expand exponentially.
The difference between a high-level card player and a low-level card player is like heaven and earth.
Having figured this out, Ning Xi gained a deeper understanding of certain trends in this world.
"Serving only the strong...?"
After paying Yu Xiangyin's card repair fee, she had a full 18,000 star coins left. At Yu Xiangyin's suggestion, she planned to purchase card-making tools.
"The card-making department's assessment is divided into two parts. The first is a theoretical assessment, which covers subjects such as Domain Materials Science, Card Pattern Science, Pattern Array Science, and Energy Science, as well as general knowledge."
As Yu Xiangyin spoke, she placed an order for the Mingxin University textbooks for Ning Xi. Coincidentally, the textbooks were on sale, costing only 2399 Star Coins in total.
"After passing the theoretical assessment, candidates can proceed to the practical assessment stage. The practical assessment consists of two parts: repairing cards and making new cards. Passing only one part is sufficient to qualify for admission."
Is it a pass/fail system instead of an elimination system? Ning Xi's lips twitched slightly, thinking: This exam must be very difficult.
The shop assistant smiled and stepped forward: "Miss, are you looking to buy a card-making tool? If you're a novice card maker, I recommend this standard blue light card-making tool. It's easy to use, cost-effective, and only costs 13,039 star coins. It's high-quality, sturdy, and durable, making it the top choice for those with high mental strength!"
Ning Xi looked at the other types of card-making tools. The expensive ones cost tens of thousands of star coins, while the cheaper ones only cost a few thousand star coins, but they looked more like children's toys than tools. So, she accepted the sales pitch and bought the product recommended by the shop assistant.
The card game major is ridiculously expensive; she's already spent so much money before she even got accepted.
The next morning, Ning Xi and Yu Xiangyin visited the Card Museum together. The museum was enormous, and the collection was simply beyond description. The two spent the entire morning there but couldn't even see a third of the exhibits before having to leave with regret.
After returning to her resettlement house, Ning Xi began studying the teaching materials.
The creation of cards is basically based on the concept of "using one domain to fight another." Materials produced by a domain are processed and guided by spiritual energy to create cards that can be used by humans to counter the domain.
To achieve this goal, card makers must work hard on their domain knowledge.
Card patterns are the basic units that make up cards. Multiple card patterns combined form a pattern array. Therefore, basic knowledge of card pattern design and pattern array design is essential for card makers.
In order to skillfully control the card-making pen and mobilize the energy in the materials, card makers should ideally have a certain foundation in drawing and mental control skills.
Ning Xi was familiar with all of these things.
Sure enough, her guess was right. She had always aspired to become a card maker and had worked hard towards that goal. She had at least mastered seven or eight tenths of the materials she bought, if not everything.
Thankfully, these memories haven't been lost...
Ning Xi took out the material kit that came with the purchase of tools and tried to make cards.
She wanted to make the simplest kind of "energy card".
Some weapon cards require additional energy, such as the [Energy Charger], one of the military's standard cards. These cards have difficulty utilizing electrical energy and can only be charged using energy cards.
[Energy Card] is a consumable item with extremely high demand, and it is one of the few E-grade cards that is never hard to sell.
She knew the card patterns and designs by heart. The next step was to prepare the card ink.
Ning Xi took out the crystal powder and Mier sesame oil, mixed them thoroughly, and poured them into the No. 5 standard kaolin. The jet-black kaolin was immediately replaced by a bright yellow. She channeled her mental energy into the kaolin mixture, attempting to guide the energies of the three elements to merge—
"Bang!"
The glass dish shattered. As for the carbomer mixture, it was instantly reduced to particles smaller than ash by the powerful energy fluctuations; in layman's terms, not even a trace remained.
"It is said that the [Energy Card] is one of the simplest E-rank cards, and the preparation of the card ink is even more difficult..."
Recalling the words in the textbook, a bead of sweat dripped from Ning Xi's forehead.
She wiped away the sweat and began her next attempt.
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