Chapter 441 Rest a.s.sured, Master, I Understand.
Tian Du City.
In the suburbs.
In a certain luxury villa.
After the report given by the butler, Lu Ming silently put down the watery watermelon in his hands as he swept his gaze over everyone. "Did they say who it was?"
"There is no name."
The butler said, "There is only a network ID. It is called "Utmost Righteousness[1]".
"Oh…
"Xiao Yuntian."
Lu Ming came to his senses.
This was a very idiotic ID. Among the people he had offended recently, he could only think of Xiao Yuntian who had just been released from the detention center.
Yang Liu-er was silent.
She looked at her Original Card that had fully materialized and suddenly felt like crying. Could she still… re-cultivate?
However…
Without the Seven Color Tea, if she really wanted to re-cultivate, she would have to start from scratch. By then, she would really be far behind her previous cla.s.smates!
Many of them from the genius courses were already at the six-star level!
How could she fall behind?
She felt mad at the thought of it!
"It"s alright.
"After all, the result is good."
Madam Yang was pleased.
In that case, her misunderstanding had finally been cleared up.
"Sigh."
Father Yang sighed.
Blame Lu Ming?
It was pointless.
Everything was an accident.
Those a.s.sa.s.sins merely broke into this place to attack Lu Ming. They did not affect Yang Liu-er"s breakthrough. It was the men in black and Lu Ming who were injured!
Besides, Yang Liu-er had become a Sword Card Master!
Lu Ming was now her president!
Yang Liu-er"s development and future were dependent on Lu Ming. It was pointless to blame Lu Ming now.
Father Yang held Lu Ming"s hands tightly. "You have to repay us with your body."
Yang Liu-er was speechless.
Lu Ming was speechless.
Could he stop thinking of that!?
Right then, the maids responsible for tidying up Yang Liu-er"s room submitted a list to the butler. The butler"s expression turned ugly after looking at it and he went to look for Father Yang.
"The lady seems to have consumed quite a large amount of energy…"
The butler reported.
"Huh?"
Father Yang took the list and his countenance changed slightly. The consumption…
Wait a minute.
Didn"t Yang Liu-er have the Seven Color Tea? The energy replenishment was only meant for her to use when the Seven Color Tea was not enough to help her with the breakthrough. The energy…
Forget it.
Father Yang gritted his teeth.
It was after all his daughter"s breakthrough!
She was after all his biological daughter!
It was alright even if she drained a villa"s worth of energy…
"It"s alright.
"They are merely small expenses."
Father Yang"s heart ached for the loss.
Yang Liu-er stared at Lu Ming with a blank face.
Lu Ming stared at the sky.
He seemed to have materialized too many new cards…
"Lu Ming."
Father Yang looked at him.
"Yes," Lu Ming replied.
"It is late.
"You can spend the night here."
Father Yang sighed. "Since Liu-er has become a Sword Card Master, I heard that there are spirit bodies in the a.s.sociation. Choose a suitable one for her."
Sword Card Master…
Perhaps it was not a bad choice as a vocation.
Lu Ming could fight one against three, defeating three peak six-stars!
Lu Ming"s combat abilities… were far beyond his!
There was nothing else he could teach Liu-er.
"Sure," Lu Ming answered him.
Hence…
Lu Ming spent the night there.
It was late at night.
Time pa.s.sed quietly.
The next day.
Lu Ming came out from Yang Liu-er"s room… no, he came out from the room opposite hers, bade farewell to the Yang family, and brought Yang Liu-er back to the Sword Card Master a.s.sociation.
At the entrance, the disciples at the a.s.sociation widened their eyes.
Obviously…
No one expected that the president would come back with a lady from his trip!
"President is amazing!"
Li Ergou and the rest exclaimed.
"This is the president, indeed!"
Ye Liangfei and the rest had many thoughts going through their mind.
They once watched a drama called "Records of President"s Travel Incognito". The president would always come back with a beautiful concubine when he went out…
They used to think that it was fantasy literature, they never thought that…
The president would do it!
He was so domineering!
"Master~"
Xiaobai blinked her eyes.
It seemed that her master came back with a beautiful sister again.
Well, her legs were not as long as Miss Xiaoqing"s, her figure was not as good as Qiu Shuyi"s, and she didn"t look as adorable as her. She did not seem very smart either…
Well…
She did not pose a threat to her.
"Xiaobai."
Lu Ming stroked her tiny head and smiled. "In the future, Yang Liu-er will be a disciple of our a.s.sociation. Find a suitable spirit body for her."
"Okay," Xiaobai agreed obediently.
Yang Liu-er had officially joined the Sword Card Master a.s.sociation!
…
In his office, Lu Ming finally heaved a sigh of relief.
After what happened yesterday, he felt somewhat awkward when he was with Yang Liu-er…
It was very awkward.
"Master."
Zhou Yun knocked the door and entered.
She was extremely happy.
It was true.
Yang Liu-er was the first person on the name list that she arranged to join the a.s.sociation!
She was the most suitable candidate!
According to her initial planning, there was a 50% probability that there would be a.s.sa.s.sins, and a 50% probability that they did not need to do anything and they could get Yang Liu-er to join them!
Zhou Yun was curious. "Master, were there a.s.sa.s.sins yesterday?"
"Yes."
Lu Ming sighed.
"Huh?"
Zhou Yun was puzzled. There were indeed a.s.sa.s.sins…
"But…
"Both Miss Yang Liu-er and you looked somewhat different."
Zhou Yun found it odd.
Although Yang Liu-er had been brought back to the a.s.sociation, her expression was odd. She seemed to be nursing a grievance… It seemed as if she was ravaged for an entire night.
She thought that Yang Liu-er did not see any a.s.sa.s.sins and hence felt that she had suffered a loss.
Unexpectedly, there were a.s.sa.s.sins!
Lu Ming sighed. "Anyway, something happened and it is not that easy to explain in words."
"Oh."
Zhou Yun no longer probed.
At this time, Lu Ming"s wristband communication device vibrated. An urgent bold message suddenly appeared. He clicked on it out of curiosity.
"If there is a child… remember that it should bear the surname of Yang!!!— Father Yang."
Shus.h.!.+
There was dead silence in the office.
Lu Ming was speechless.
Zhou Yun was speechless.
After a long while…
Lu Ming coughed. "Well, that…"
"It"s alright."
Zhou Yun smiled faintly. "Master, I understand."
"Huh?"
"Don"t worry."
Zhou Yun said softly, "I will make the proper arrangements. Among the list of daily necessities to be bought this month, I will tell them to include pregnancy test kits."
She was very smart.
A wise person knew what to do.
For people in the same age group, especially for students, girls were generally more mature than boys. The boy that preferred white clothes was too childish.
As such…
To ensure that they had a better future…
She had to become stronger.
Right now…
The Sword Card Master a.s.sociation was a good chance.
She believed that as the a.s.sociation grew and expanded, she would become someone who could take charge of a section by herself in the Sword Card Master a.s.sociation and then no one could replace her!
This was her starting point!
In that case, if she really ended up with the fool in the future, his family would not be too against it.
At the thought of this, Zhou Yun felt warm inside.
"Master,
"I will leave now," Zhou Yun said softly. "I will arrange for another target as soon as possible."
Upon finis.h.i.+ng her words…
She left in a breeze.
Lu Ming was dumbstruck. She did not understand the situation at all!
It was unnecessary to explain such matters.
He would leave Yang Liu-er"s matters to Xiaobai. She would make proper arrangements for the spirit body and for joining the a.s.sociation. Lu Ming knew that he could trust Xiaobai to do things properly.
He was supposed to be the school belle"s personal bodyguard, but he had become the school belle"s personal killer…
Sigh.
Lu Ming did not expect that the men in black who had barged into the Yang family were there to a.s.sa.s.sinate him! If he was not at the Yang family"s at that time…
Would he be in danger?!
a.s.sa.s.sins…
Lu Ming looked grim.
Although he was confident, this did not mean that he should allow his enemies to target him, especially a peak six-star Card Creator!
Xiao Yuntian!
The vice president of Tian Du City Card Creators a.s.sociation!
From the few previous encounters, he realized that this person was pedantic, he had low IQ and was ugly. He must have had some connections to come this far.
Well, he needed to pay attention to him.
"Haoran."
"Yes."
"Help me to check the ident.i.ty of the network ID, [Utmost Righteousness]…"
"Understood," Li Haoran replied.
"Do it as fast as possible," Lu Ming said calmly.
Once it was confirmed that the men in black were sent by Xiao Yuntian, haha… Lu Ming would give him a surprise.
"Okay."
Li Haoran went to investigate.
Right then…
Lu Ming could finally sort out his abilities. The one versus three combat had exposed some problems in his combat abilities.
For example…
Materialization of the Original Card!
This was a great feature.
It could materialize cards that had not been created in advance. It was very powerful and it was especially perfect for Lu Ming who had lightning integration!
However, there was a fatal weakness with this feature— It consumed a lot of energy!
It was scary!
No matter what kind of ability it was, or how much energy the card would consume, once the Original Card materialized, it would totally drain Lu Ming.
As such, every time he would need a large amount of energy.
It was still alright in the past. Previously, Lu Ming had had weak abilities and was in a lower realm. The Energy Cards were enough to support him. However, now that he was an advanced five-star and he would reach even higher realms in the future…
How could he stand it?!
The day before he was with the Yang family, if he was elsewhere, where could he have gotten so much energy?!
As such…
He had to optimize the materialization of the Original Card!
In the past, he had tried to optimize this ability. However, back then he had had limited control of the Original Card, and he had weaker abilities, therefore, he did not have any significant results.
But now, the Sky Water Sword had returned!
Xiao-Xiaojian could control every trace of energy in the Original Card!
Perhaps, it was worth a try?
Suddenly, Lu Ming was tempted.
He began to try right away.
However, it was such a pity.
The materialization of the Original Card was an outburst of one"s limit!
It was set to release all the energy in the Original Card as much as possible. It was impossible to reserve any energy!!!
Lu Ming pondered deeply for a moment.
In that case, he could create a limit!
The other advantage of a Sword Card Master was achieving dual card functions!
Since it was impossible to limit the energy used in the "materialization of the Original Card", then what if he controlled the upper limit of the Original Card? It was impossible with the Original Card, however…
Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian could do it!!!
Thanks to the cultivation at the Card Creators a.s.sociation last time, Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian had already reached advanced five-star. It could already materialize the Original Card!
It had all the abilities!
Since that was the case…
Shus.h.!.+
Lu Ming tried to materialize the Original Card through Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian.
Buzz—
Lights and shadow flashed.
It was a success!!!
Shus.h.!.+
Lu Ming"s eyes lit up.
Done!
Since Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian was condensed from Xiao-Xiaojian and it had not been through any special breakthrough, its abilities were limited to the standard ten thousand points!
Not only that, as it was controlled by Xiao-Xiaojian, both cards had exactly the same energy. Therefore, they could adjust accordingly…
For example…
Xiao-Xiaojian"s one hundred thousand points of energy and Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian"s ten thousand points of energy could be changed to Xiao-Xiaojian"s one hundred five thousand points of energy, and Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian"s five thousand points of energy!
This was equalization as well!
"Are you sure it"s okay?"
Lu Ming stared at Xiao-Xiaojian who seemed to be dying.
"I-its alright.
"It is slightly bloated and full to the brim…"
Xiao-Xiaojian said.
Buzz—
As it had surpa.s.sed the limits of one hundred thousand points, lights surged on top of the Original Card.
"Are you sure?"
Lu Ming was very skeptical.
"Don"t worry."
Xiao-Xiaojian was full of confidence. "It is only a mere transfer of five thousand points. It is not much of a difference to my upper limit of one hundred thousand. It is an easy feat, it is merely…"
Cras.h.!.+
There was a deafening sound.
The five thousand points of energy that condensed on the Original Card came gus.h.i.+ng out.
Lu Ming was speechless.
Xiao-Xiaojian was indeed unreliable.
However, if it was only a temporary adjustment, it should still be alright. Xiao-Xiaojian should be able to withstand it for a while.
Well, it should be okay.
In the future, when he needed to materialize the Original Card, he would get Xiao-Xiaojian to make a temporary adjustment to the energy upper limit first, such that it was the energy best suited to release the card!
In that case…
It was perfect.
Well…
It could be seen as the temporary credit card limit!
Although it could not be used at will like a permanent card limit, it was still alright to make appropriate adjustments when needed.
He had solved the problem of materialization of the Original Card.
With these methods, his energy consumption in the future would be greatly reduced! Otherwise, if he used it too many times, even if he had villas of energy to use, they would run out eventually!
Lu Ming was very satisfied.
Well…
Then there was another problem— the Elimination Card!
The Elimination Card shone in the fight at the Yang family. It gave the three peak six-stars a hard time. This was the only time that Lu Ming had the strongest combat abilities!
However, what was the specific function of this card?
What was it like?
What was the effect?
He needed more rigorous experiments to find out.
Hence Lu Ming spent the rest of his time studying the Elimination Card.
First of all.
1. Ordinary items.
According to what had happened at The First Academy last time, Lu Ming found three sets of gla.s.sware and he placed them in front of the Elimination Card. The three sets of gla.s.sware melted. There was no doubt about the outcome.
To be precise, the gla.s.sware detonated.
But, as there was no energy in the gla.s.sware, there was not much commotion after they burst and disappeared.
Well, the experiment was a success!
In that case, the mushroom cloud at The First Academy from last time…
Cough.
It might be that he used multiple Elimination Cards and hence the parts in the testing machine kept disappearing…
He had wronged Xiao Yuntian.
2. Vocation cores.
Lu Ming got several six-star Sword Card Masters in the a.s.sociation to try the card. He made sure that they were at the highest level above him possible.
It was ineffective!
Although the Original Card and the energy were consistent, as the card spirits were different, it did not seem to work.
Well…
Lu Ming pondered for a moment, turning his gaze to the vocation cores inside him. There were a few identical Sword Embryos.
Hence…
Lu Ming summoned them and activated the new card.
Buzz—
Lu Ming clearly saw three Sword Embryos flas.h.i.+ng in tandem and disappearing instantaneously.
Oo…
Lu Ming could more or less figure it out.
For the case of vocation cores, everything had to be constant. For example, if it was used on an Energy Warrior, the parts needed to be consistent. If it was used on card spirits, they had to be the same as well.
This was generally the case.
3. The quant.i.ty issue.
Although currently three items were eliminated at once, according to his experience with Candy Crush, it should be able to work with three items and above. Therefore, Lu Ming tried the cards on four sets of gla.s.sware…
Shus.h.!.+
Four sets of gla.s.sware melted on the spot.
Very well.
Indeed, it could work even when the quant.i.ty increased!
Hence…
Lu Ming began to do more tests.
Human beings…
Spirit bodies…
Equipment…
…
In the end, he came to a conclusion.
This card could only be used under strict conditions (The vocation cores of the enemies must be consistent and they must be of the same realm). However, once it was successful, the effect was IMBA[2]!
The Meltdown series…
This was indeed an advanced card series!
Lu Ming was filled with emotions.
However, he knew very well that no matter how powerful this card was, it could only be a function card!!! This type of card that could only be effective under special conditions were uncommon cards.
As such…
After studying the card, he put the card aside.
It was very rare that he would use this card in general combat.
That was what Lu Ming had in mind.
However, in the afternoon, someone suddenly came looking for Lu Ming, threatening to challenge him!
It was a 16-year-old teenager in purple. He was the same age as Lu Ming, however, his level was far higher than Lu Ming. He was already a powerful six-star Summoner.
"Lu Ming!
"I heard that you defeated peak six-star cultivators and brought Liu-er away.
"Today!
"I am here to challenge you!
"I shall let you know who is the real six-star genius!"
The teenager said proudly.
With that…
He summoned his beast—a six-star Fiery Cloud Wolf! It was an extremely rare, aggressive and very powerful summoned beast.
Of course, this was not the main point.
The point was the teenager summoned six of them in one go! Six identical Fiery Cloud Wolves blocked the entrance to the a.s.sociation, forming a straight and neat line.
They looked mighty.
Lu Ming was deep in his thoughts.
Perhaps…
The Elimination Card was not useless?
…
…
[1] The Chinese p.r.o.nunciation sounds like Yi Bo Yun Tian.
[2] IMBA is an acronym used in online gaming with the meaning "Imbalanced". IMBA usually implies that a feature of a game is too strong in comparison with other features, but may also be used when a feature is significantly weaker than others.