Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Qing Ming City.

At the shop.

Lu Ming was studying matters pertaining to the quality of energy.

He had been through the one to three-star stages and did not have much of an understanding of four-star. Therefore, he had never considered this matter. Having briefly gained an understanding of it from Gao Xiaoqing, he was certain that the huge depletion in energy this time was most likely due to poor energy quality!

Quality…

This was a rare term.

At the very least…

Lu Ming had not heard anyone talked about this since he started cultivating.

However, this was very normal. This was the same as not knowing about calculus when he was in primary school. Anyway, many people learned about it before they had the corresponding ability to deal with it?

If you don't believe this, you can ask Xiaobai.

“Xiaobai.”

Lu Ming suddenly asked, “Do you know what is energy quality?”

“Yes.”

Xiaobai replied seriously. “In order to improve their ability, four-star and above cultivators can't merely increase the quant.i.ty. They have to improve the quality!

When your energy quality improves, your prowess will increase and the realms will level-up!

After the breakthrough to three-star peak, they will be at the four-star beginner level. Afterward, one can advance to the intermediate and advanced levels through tempering, cultivation, and so on.”

Lu Ming was expressionless.

Oh.

It turned out that Xiaobai knew about it…

“I-is it wrong?”

Xiaobai sounded a little embarra.s.sed.

She knew that her master wanted to test her grasp of the knowledge and situation. She had read about energy quality a long time ago.

When she was ten years old?

Sigh.

Her master's face looked black as if he was not very satisfied…

Hence…

Xiaobai tried to remember again seriously. She seemed to have also read about it in a biography when she was eight years old. She thus spoke again.

“In normal circ.u.mstances, one has to have energy at the same or higher level to cast the corresponding ability. If you use low-level energy… The ‘Forced conversion effect' will occur! It will forcefully deplete a large quant.i.ty of low-level energy to convert it to high-level energy! The rate of depletion will thus skyrocket.”

Lu Ming stared at the sky.

Oh.

It turned out that Xiaobai even knew about this…

This detestable society!

Did you consider the children's childhood?!

Shouldn't one eat, drink and play merrily during their childhood and be happy? What was the use of learning all these things? Did you consider the adults' feelings?

Heartache!

“I-I only know that much,” Xiaobai said, feeling somewhat embarra.s.sed.

“Not bad,” Lu Ming said in a low voice, “You have to cultivate diligently but you can't fall behind on your basic knowledge too.”

“Alright,” Xiaobai replied obediently.

Hehe. She had guessed it right. Her master wanted to test her knowledge.

Well…

Lu Ming smiled faintly and asked Xiaobai to go and study. He then secretly searched for information related to energy quality. In general, they agreed with what Xiaobai had said.

There was a corresponding energy level to each technique stage!

Four-star beginner technique!

One had to use four-star beginner energy!

Four-star advanced technique?

One had to use four-star advanced energy!

Of course.

This was only referring to techniques with a constant prowess.

There were many other abilities, such as Leviathan, with a variable prowess… Basically, the powers released were correlated to the amount of energy dissipated. This would be left to fate.

However, the four-star Cloud Shuttle Card that Lu Ming cast was a standard technique with a fixed prowess!

Therefore…

What would happen if the energy quality was not good enough?

Numbers would be used to make up for it!

The energy in the Base Energy Card had the lowest quality and was the most basic. If one were to forcefully convert it to energy of four-star quality, it would result in a tenfold depletion!

This was the reason for the depletion of one hundred thousand energy points!

So, that was what happened.

Lu Ming completely understood now.

“It seems that… He has to prepare four-star Energy Cards next time.”

Lu Ming sighed.

However…

It was not that easy to purchase four-star Energy Cards.

Four-star Energy Card was a unique concept!

One-star, two-star and three-star Energy Cards were Base Cards and the difference was in the quant.i.ty. The energy usage was universal. Energy Cards also had the widest circulation in the market at the moment!

This was because there were many cultivators at this level in this world…

Four-star and above?

They already belonged to the powerful category.

Therefore, many small places did not sell four-star Energy Cards!

For example— Qing Ming City!

In these places, they had no one to sell to even if they were to put four-star Energy Cards for sale!

To the various presidents of the a.s.sociations?

There was also another point.

One-star, two-star, and three-star Energy Cards were considered goods in wide circulation.

What about four-star Energy Cards?

They were cards that required a high level of difficulty in creation!

They were very expensive!

To many people, this could be used as a trump card!

From a certain perspective, the price of a four-star Energy Card was already not below that of ordinary four-star cards…

Why?

This was because in a game, this was akin to a restoration tool.

Instant, full restoration!

Could it not be expensive?

Making it yourself!

That would be a lot of hard work!

Although four-star Energy Cards were expensive, the cost price was also high. After all, in terms of just creating Energy Cards, the Card Creator himself was an energy conversion machine!

Furthermore…

Lu Ming could not do that now…

His energy quality was too poor!

“Energy quality…”

Lu Ming rubbed his head. His head hurt a little.

It was no wonder…

It was no wonder that very few people would throw a heap of cards at people!

Even the so-called Krypton Gold Cultivators… In normal circ.u.mstances, there were more of such cases for three-star. At the four-star or five-star levels, very few people would throw heaps of cards at others…

Lu Ming had encountered numerous four-star, five-star and six-stars…

Why didn't they have any Energy Cards?

Because it was costly!

Therefore…

Even if a typical person were to possess four-star cards, they would use it as a trump card!

To erupt on the spot at the critical moment!

After all…

Four-star energy was unlike one-star, two-star and three-star, whereby the latter's energy could be extracted directly from Energy Ores.

“I see.”

Lu Ming completely understood now.

He was gradually entering the four-star level. Therefore, his need for four-star cards increased.

Four-star cards…

Lu Ming researched the information seriously.

The price of four-star cards was much more expensive than that of three-star cards. However, no matter how he calculated, it was more worthwhile than depleting ten times the amount of forcefully converted energy…

However…

Soon after, he came across one sentence.

“Members of the Card Creators a.s.sociation will be given priority for purchasing these from the a.s.sociation.”

The a.s.sociation had these too?

He browsed the website of the Card Creators a.s.sociation and was delighted to find out that the points from the a.s.sociation could be used in exchange for four-star Energy Cards! He could exchange one card for two thousand points!

This pricing was acceptable!

Lu Ming's eyes lit up.

True enough, there were benefits to joining the a.s.sociation…

Member benefits were even better!

He saw that he still had a lot of points. With a wave of his hand, he simply exchanged all of them. Most probably, he would not lack any four-star Energy Cards in the near future.

At this very moment…

The Card Creators a.s.sociation.

Zhang Yang had just returned to the a.s.sociation and was dumbstruck to discover the void in the exchange platform.

Where were the four-star Energy Cards?!

d.a.m.n!

He remembered that there were still a dozen in the inventory? Normally, only a few presidents would use them. How could they possibly finish their stock? Could it be that… someone had taken them out to sell them?!

At the thought of this, Zhang Yang's expression was ugly.

The cards of the Card Creators a.s.sociation were provided to its members as a benefit!

If they wanted more?

They just had to contribute more!

You can use them yourself but you definitely can't sell them!

Especially— Selling them as a bulk!

“Look into it!

Go and investigate!

I want to see who dared to do such a thing!” Zhang Yang sneered.

Very soon…

The investigation results were out and there was dead silence at the Card Creators a.s.sociation.

“Lu Ming…”

Zhang Yang sighed deeply.

“Even if he is in great limelight now, he can't do things like this?” a vice president said softly.

Zhang Yang glanced at him. “What are the rules of the a.s.sociation?”

“One is not allowed to sell them,” the vice president said.

“Do you think Lu Ming will sell them?”

Zhang Yang sighed.

That vice president then came to his senses.

If it was other people, the only possibility of them buying so many cards was to sell or traffick them. However, if it was Lu Ming, the way this guy used Energy Cards were really… shameless!

“I think we have given Lu Ming too many points…”

One vice president was having a headache.

It was true.

A hundred thousand points were too scary!

The points of the a.s.sociation were extremely precious. How could one give out a hundred thousand points at one time? Afterward? Lu Ming simply booked the entire Qing Ming and Chong Yang branches!

He made the two a.s.sociations service him for a few consecutive days!

Although the two a.s.sociations were fighting with each other, if Lu Ming did not have a ma.s.sive number of points backing him, he would most probably deplete all his points after consulting one or two teachers!

d.a.m.n!

This place was not a club!

They were not ladies!

What booking?

Have you seen someone book the entire Card Creators a.s.sociation?

Have you also seen someone book the entire a.s.sociation and all the senior Card Creators simultaneously overnight?

Lu Ming did that.

“Uh.”

Zhang Yang was somewhat embarra.s.sed. “Perhaps I have written the report too well?”

He could not help it.

The Qing Ming branch never had much fame.

It was with much difficulty that they encountered such a matter of great importance. There were beast tides and a super genius taking action to resolve them. Naturally, he had to boast about it.

Hence…

Various kinds of reports were out and after Zhang Yang's ‘slight refinement', the outcome was that.

“Forget it. Get the few of them to create more. Also, add another rule – only four-star and above are allowed to buy them! If a three-star peak really needs four-star Energy Cards, they have to apply for them one week in advance…

We can only do this.

“The a.s.sociation is so generous.”

Lu Ming used up all his points in one go.

He was in a good mood.

The matter of energy quality was resolved temporarily.

With these Energy Cards and a small Energy Ore, Lu Ming felt that he didn't need to worry about energy for the time being.

Afterward… it would be the outcome of this test!

Although he accidentally annihilated a group of men in black and destroyed Fan Ze's mansion, based on his past experiences in testing cards, this was not considered a big deal.

Well… it was still alright… alright…

In summary, the testing of the four-star Cloud Shuttle Card was successful!

1. Testing outcome: Take away the core or crystal nucleus of the enemy. It can be stored in the Sea of Consciousness.

2. The testing limit: Five-star!

Six-star… did not test.

Could not test.

3. Can it be defended?: Unknown

4. Can it be destroyed?: Unknown

Because when Lu Ming cast it at a five-star, it was in the midst of a huge commotion, therefore, he did not know if the five-star had managed to block it easily…

5. Will the core be recovered?: Yes

According to the student Fan Ze, the vocation core that had been taken away could actually be awakened. This was enough to prove that the core could be recovered!

If it was a Sword Embryo?!

If it was put away in the Sea of Consciousness, he was fearful that the Sword Embryo would kill him when the Swordsman used his thoughts?

It was meant for long-distance. So what if you were to take it away?!

And the beasts?

They recovered as soon as they swallowed it back.

They became even more lively!

Which meant that… in essence, although it could take away the vocation core, it would not cause any harm! (Except for Energy Warrior and vocations with unique and tempered cores)

Therefore… he had to isolate the core!

This was the only way to make the other party lose his combat ability for the time being!

Of course.

He did not know whether the other party could recover it after putting it in his Sea of Consciousness…

At that time, Lu Ming had taken away those people's vocation cores. Before they could react, they had already been drowned by lights and shadows and were instantly blasted to death…

How was there a chance for them to find it back?

He would wait to test it out when he had a chance in the future.

6. Can the vocation core be isolated?: Unknown.

This should be the current outcome of the testing.

However…

At this moment, Lu Ming then recalled something — His initial objective of creating this card was because he lacked an Escape Card…

But, look at the outcome?!

He got another strange and mysterious card!

It was true.

He merely needed an Escape Card…

When he faced those five-star big shots, it could bring him away and flee. It was not to steal other people's vocation cores… If he could steal them away, that would be alright…

However, wouldn't it be embarra.s.sing if he was discovered?

It was not good to plead for mercy.

“Forget it.”

Lu Ming sighed.

What could he do?

It seemed that he was destined to have no fate with things like an Escape Card.

The next card…

Lu Ming looked at the progress of the four-star Burial Mound Card. There was still a long way to go and he was not that anxious now. Furthermore, the Cloud Shuttle Card was completed and could be used as a new cultivation card!

Be it the card creating difficulty level or complexity, it far exceeded the Moonlight Card.

Efficiency…

Improved again!

Of course.

This difficult task was ultimately left to the Original Card.

There were too many things that Lu Ming wanted to learn. He had not studied or figured out the spirit bodies. What if Xiaoyan were to suddenly say, “Master, I've already completed the third stage…”

How embarra.s.sing would that be?

Therefore…

Lu Ming had to create the fourth stage guidelines for Sword Card Master as soon as possible!

Hence…

His life resumed to normal for the time being.

He and Xiaobai would read diligently every day and ramped up on various knowledge, spirit bodies and four-star card creation techniques. He was leading a very blissful life. After all, he no longer needed to cultivate himself…

Whoos.h.!.+

Whoos.h.!.+

The two Original Cards in the corner shone constantly.

“What a perfect life.”

Lu Ming felt gratified.

However, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right. He then glanced at the two Original Cards. There was no problem. They were glowing in the corner every day…

Eh?

Wait a minute?

Lu Ming came to his senses. Something was wrong!

Normally, these two guys would get together and glow. Why was it that one was in the left corner and the other in the right now? There was an atmosphere of ‘not wanting to interact with each other for life'?!

This was surprising.

The Original Cards could have a conflict?

“Did you bully other people?”

Lu Ming pulled his Original Card and gave a round of beatings.

The Original Card looked dumbstruck.

Yours truly is so amazing. Why would I bully a baby?!

“It's really not you?”

Lu Ming was very doubtful.

“No!”

The Original Card transmitted its thoughts clearly.

Was that so?

Lu Ming cast a suspicious look at it and then called Xiaobai to come to him. He asked Xiaobai to inquire on this.

“Yes.”

Xiaobai went to the corner and looked for her Original Card to discuss life. After a while, she came back with an odd expression. “…Master, I've finished asking.”

“What is happening?”

Lu Ming was curious.

“Well…”

Xiaobai felt somewhat embarra.s.sed. “It says that… there are too many tattoos on your Original Card… It doesn't look like a decent card… too seasoned… It doesn't want to be led astray…”

Lu Ming was dumbstruck.

Tattoo?!

c.r.a.p, did the Original Card have tattoos? He then turned around and saw the lightning cracks on the Original Card…

Oh.

c.r.a.p! Who told you that these were tattoos?

Lu Ming's Original Card also broke down emotionally.

You are the one with tattoos!

Your whole family has tattoos!

Is it not easy for me to be a card spirit. I have to be bullied by your entire family as well?!

It was super aggrieved.