At the a.s.sociation.

Lu Ming finished enjoying his Liangpi.

Heh.

He had not felt this way for a long time…

By his side, Xiaobai's heart ached as she watched her master.

After all, nothing terrifying had occurred this time but Master was slurping his liangpi. He was such a poor thing.

Although she was very tempted to take away the plate of liangpi on several occasions, she decided to allow him to have his fill once, taking into account the fact that Master had just saved Qing Ming City.

However, he still needed to forgo this bad habit in the future!

It was too uncultured!

Hum.

Master was not like that in the past! He must have been led astray by Li Haoran and the rest!

"Xiaobai."

"Yes."

"Where did you buy the liangpi from?"

Lu Ming was curious.

Tian Du City was located very far away from Qing Ming City. Most likely, there were very few liangpi that suited his taste there.

"I don't know."

Xiaobai pondered for a moment. "Let me ask Xiao-Xiaobai."

Lu Ming was taken aback.

d.a.m.n!

Xiao-Xiaobai already knew how to go out and buy liangpi on its own?!

"It says that it bought them from the street next to ours."

Xiaobai said happily, "There's a huge wet market there and fresh seafood. We have many new dishes to try in the future."

Xiaobai's eyes were s.h.i.+ning.

Seafood!

Fresh seafood!

Such things were very rare in Qing Ming City.

After all, in a landlocked area, a Summoner would be drained of all their powers each time someone feasted on fresh seafood…

"Oh?"

Lu Ming was elated. "Are there fresh papayas too?"

"Yes!"

Xiaobai was very happy.

As an extremely intelligent minor, she felt that it was necessary to plan for her future, especially p.u.b.erty. Therefore, she had to obtain ample nutrition!

Well…

She wanted to have long and slender legs like Sister Xiaoqing!

And a figure like Li Tiantian!

Well…

Master certainly liked this type of girl.

Xiaobai's face was blus.h.i.+ng.

"That's good."

Lu Ming felt grateful.

Instinctively, he opened the projected television screen, wanting to understand more about Tian Du City.

"News report on Tian Du City…

A while ago, a shocking and terrifying situation occurred at Beihai Road. A frightening opponent with a powerful invisibility ability dashed into the liangpi shop and stole some liangpi. This individual is very adept at circ.u.mventing the surveillance system… At the moment, it is uncertain if this is a prank or a wanted man. Hopefully everyone will shut their doors and windows and be on their guard."

Lu Ming was speechless.

Xiaobai was silent.

Liangpi…

Stolen?!

"Xiao-Xiaobai didn't pay for it?"

Lu Ming was taken aback.

"I gave it money."

Xiaobai was baffled too. Clearly, she had given Xiao-Xiaobai money.

Whoos.h.!.+

Whoos.h.!.+

Xiao-Xiaobai shone faintly to express its grievance. Clearly, it had put the money on the table.

"Hmm."

Lu Ming pondered deeply.

Could it be that…

It was someone else?

Forget it.

He would get Li Haoran to pay more attention to these matters.

…

After the meal, Lu Ming and Xiaobai went to the office of the a.s.sociation.

"Master," Li Haoran said respectfully.

"Yes."

Lu Ming nodded slightly. "What are you busy with?"

"Staff arrangements for the a.s.sociation."

Li Haoran said respectfully, "According to our requirements and criteria, a group of people has already applied to work for the a.s.sociation. We are a.s.sessing them. There are service staff, a.s.sessment staff and finance staff… Oh, right. We also need some temporary staff who can be scapegoats…"

Li Haoran took out a list. There were a total of over thirty roles. From the salary, working hours, requirements, terms and conditions, age range and the roles and responsibilities, they were clearly detailed for each and every job. Last, there were also rights for exchanging acc.u.mulated points and so on.

Besides these…

There was also a lot of scientific research departments, such as Xiaobai's spirit body research department and Li Haoran's color dyeing experiment department and so on. The sections on the forums had been realized. Each research department had a.s.sistants, service staff and needed to procure materials and so on… All of this required someone to manage them!

To operate an a.s.sociation, a complete system and large number of staff members were needed!

The numbers were ma.s.sive!

Well…

Lu Ming took a glance. It was super complicated.

"Very good."

Lu Ming nodded slightly. "You have done well."

"Thank you, master."

Li Haoran was overjoyed.

True enough, Master could understand his intent at one glance.

"What about the rest of you?"

"Second Senior Brother is preparing for a genius compet.i.tion for minors… Fourth junior brother is researching the a.s.sociation between swordplay and cards," Li Haoran said honestly.

Lu Ming broke out in a sweat. Salted Crispy Chicken was still partic.i.p.ating in compet.i.tions?

"Will this affect his cultivation?"

Lu Ming was a little worried.

"Of course not."

Li Haoran said in a low voice, "Master, Second Senior Brother has extraordinary talent. He belongs to the type of people who feel more motivated the more they fight. He was enlightened a few times during his combats. The more he fights, the more powerful he becomes! Furthermore, Second Senior Brother has already gained some fame for himself. There are already three companies who want to sponsor Second Senior Brother."

Lu Ming was speechless.

Fine.

He even had sponsors now!

This was the only individual who could derive such an outcome from compet.i.tions.

Then…

He did not need to worry about Zhao Yunshan either.

Old Zhao was the most diligent one now. Furthermore, he had extensive resources and did not lack anything. He would be able to attain a five-star breakthrough soon and revert to his original level as a Swordsman!

His progress speed could only be described as 'terrifying'!

Therefore…

Lu Ming pondered carefully. He did not need to worry about the affairs of the Sword Card Master a.s.sociation at all!

Alright.

Lu Ming was happy about that. Since that was the case, he just had to be responsible for looking good and being powerful.

"Way to go."

He patted Li Haoran's shoulder.

In fact, he was well aware that the foundation of the a.s.sociation was abilities!

No.

To be precise, in this era, the foundation of any force was how powerful they were! As long as one was powerful enough, they would then be able to survive in this world!

"Yes."

Li Haoran looked serious.

He had to kick start the operations of the a.s.sociation in the shortest time possible.

…

The First Academy.

The dean was reading the report of after-crisis management of Qing Ming City.

"What arrangements do you have for the students of Qing Ming City?"

He asked.

"The current arrangement is to send them to different schools. The few schools in Qing Ming City are ranked at the bottom. The education department's plan is to simply close them and then send the existing students to other schools. For the students, it is also considered letting them join a better school," the a.s.sistant replied honestly.

Most of the students in Qing Ming City had already been divided among the cities nearby.

Under such special circ.u.mstances and coupled with the subsidy from the higher-ups, the students were almost s.n.a.t.c.hed away. After all, the quota had also been created!

Henceforth…

The various quota of the few schools in Qing Ming City were also given to other schools. Therefore, these students had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away!

Everyone was very satisfied.

"That's good."

The dean felt grateful;. At the sight that his a.s.sistant wore a strange and hesitant expression, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Well… Actually… There's still one more student who has not been settled."

The a.s.sistant wiped his sweat. "All the schools near Qing Ming City decided to quietly reject him when they heard his name. Therefore, his situation is still hanging in the air."

"Who is it?"

"Lu Ming."

The dean was silent.

Lu Ming…

Lu Ming had a unique status!

He was well aware. Lu Ming had a special ident.i.ty as the cultivating trainee of his college. Yet, no one wanted to take him in?

The cultivating trainee quota would go to whichever school that took Lu Ming in!

Was there something wrong with the brains of the leaders of the schools near Qing Ming City?!

Despite this, they did not want him?!

"They are messing around!"

The dean wore an unhappy expression. "Taking the students away is for the purpose of reducing the stress of the higher-ups! Those schools are not looking at the big picture?!"

"Dean, why don't we accept this quota?"

The a.s.sistant was slightly tempted.

"Absolutely not!"

The dean's expression changed drastically.

The a.s.sistant was a little lost.

Why not?

There was no reason to decline.

The First Academy was very special and had already maximized its resources, which were already much greater that of other schools. If they wanted to increase their resources, it was extremely difficult. But this time…

Furthermore…

Where was the mentioned 'big picture'?!

"You don't understand. We can take in anyone except for Lu Ming!""

The dean wore a gloomy gaze. "Anyway, we can't accept him."

"Okay."

The a.s.sistant was confused.

However…

Just at this moment, the recruitment department called. "Hahaha, dean, do you know that something great happened today? I accepted a cultivating trainee on behalf of the school. Hahaha, when that guy graduates, this quota will remain in The First Academy forever! Hahaha!"

Shus.h.!.+

There was dead silence in the office.

After a long while…

The a.s.sistant asked gingerly, "Pardon me. Is this student called Lu Ming?"

"Eh, how did you know?"

The other side was surprised.

The dean's hand trembled. His heart suddenly turned a little cold.

Quota…

When Lu Ming left…

d.a.m.n!

When he left, would the school still be around?!

"I believe you have not settled the paperwork for Lu Ming's transfer?" the a.s.sistant asked.

"It has been settled. Haha!"

The recruitment team was extremely thrilled. "I was afraid that he would be taken away by other schools. Therefore, I pulled strings to settle the paperwork overnight. Most likely, everything has already been finalized!"

Shus.h.!.+

There was silence again in the office.

Oh…

Overnight…

Bam!

The other side hung up and the dean did not come to his senses for a long time. Therefore, from now onwards, Lu Ming was a student of The First Academy?

Why was he back after coming full circle?!

Only heaven knew!

The last time this guy came as a visiting student, he stirred up a storm. Now he was going to officially join The First Academy…

"Has the recruitment team given out the funds?"

The dean suddenly remembered this.

"Yes," the a.s.sistant said in a low voice.

"They have already been deducted."

"Huh?"

…

At this very moment…

In the a.s.sociation.

Lu Ming and Xiaobai had officially made this place their home!

The a.s.sociation had just entered the preparation stage. It was very busy. Li Haoran and Zhao Yunshan were occupied. Lu Ming had the most spare time.

Therefore…

After contemplating carefully, they simply return to cultivating again!

Lu Ming was very sure that his few disciples had terrifying talents. If he did not work hard, it would be a matter of time that they would surpa.s.s him!

After all…

Everyone was already four-star!

As the master of the Sword Card Master vocation, how could he be weaker than his disciples?!

Not too far in the distance.

Xiaobai was reading the books seriously. Occasionally, she would lift up a pen. In the corner, the two Original Cards would gather to puff and train together.

"I have to work harder."

Lu Ming was determined.

In that case, he would start from the cards.

Due to the Lightning Original Card, the integration of cards was the easiest way for Lu Ming to increase his combat ability! However, there was nothing much that he could work on.

The limit of Cloud Shuttle Card — Four-star Stealing Card!

The limit of Demolition Card — Four-star Desolation Card!

The limit of Summon Card — Four-star Moonlight Card. There was another special card which needed to be materialized, had a special function and could not be used — Five-star Sunlight Card!

Oo…

He could try to create the five-star Demolition Card and Cloud Shuttle Card?

Lu Ming's heart stirred slightly.

Although the Sunlight Card had a high limit, it had average power. Nevertheless, it could unleash special effects under certain special circ.u.mstances. Perhaps it would be the same for the Demolition Card and Cloud Shuttle Card?!

Should he give it a try?

Lu Ming felt very tempted at the thought of this.

Furthermore,

This was the headquarters of the a.s.sociation!

In the past.

In a small place like Qing Ming City, Lu Ming did not have a suitable place to test the cards. Each time he wanted to test the card, he had to gingerly go to the suburbs. But in this place…

It had everything that one could wish for!

"Not bad."

Lu Ming specially rushed to the testing area and took a closer look at it. He was very satisfied. There were top-notch facilities and equipment here!

"Haoran, what is the limit for the testing area?"

Lu Ming specially went to inquire.

"Below seven-star!"

Li Haoran was certain.

This was the standard requirement of the testing area for Tian Du City!

It was extremely high!

So any abilities below seven-star could be tested here!

"Very good."

Lu Ming was very satisfied.

He was finally able to test his cards without feeling restricted!

Hence…

He took out the card that he had long created.

Well…

He paused for a moment and then put away a few Desolation Cards.

Hehe.

Forget about the Desolation Card.

Lu Ming pondered for a moment. He really didn't dare cast it! It was still fine for the other cards. The Desolation Card already had a shocking effect. If it were to advance to another level…

He would consider it later.

Hence…

Lu Ming turned his gaze to another card - the Stealing Card.

This was also an extremely unique card. It originated from the Cloud Shuttle Card. First, it led one to escape. Then, it brought people away and last, it escaped with the vocation cores…

It was super strange and mysterious.

Lu Ming affectionately termed it as the 'Carry Card'.

He was very curious as to what this card would bring him next?!

Shus.h.!.+

Lu Ming sealed seven cards.

Buzz—

The card surface changed.

He had never seen this before.

…

"Come on."

Lu Ming took a deep breath.

Materialization!

Shus.h.!.+

Lights and shadows flashed.

The energy in his body was immediately drained!

A dazzling card materialized from the Original Card. It drifted in the air, transformed into a streak of faint radiance and blasted towards the dummy opponent set up in the testing area.

Bang!

There was a deafening sound.

Afterward…

Lu Ming looked before him with a dumbstruck expression.

d.a.m.n!!!

Where was the testing area?!!

…