The Card Apprentice

Zuo Tianlin was obviously very pleased with his son’s response, and there was a flash of appreciation in his fierce eyes, “From top to bottom, there is probably no-one at Eastern Wei Academy as clear about this as we are. If it were a different somewhat better school, I wouldn’t be surprised, but it feels fishy when it’s one of the six.”

Seeing that Zuo Tingyi looked as though he didn’t quite understand, he waved his hand to indicate that he had more to say.

“You still don’t understand what those six great ones stand for.” Zuo Tianlin was saying as he looked at his son. “The six, to all appearances are nothing more than places of learning, even if extremely high-level places of learning. I believe this is also what you think.”

“That isn’t the case, then?” Zuo Tingyi asked in amazement.

“Ha ha, that’s because you don’t understand the six. Wait until you sit in my place, and you will then be clear that the six are some kind of six colossuses! They are not only six schools anymore, they have monumental consortia behind them. These consortia have complicated roots which go back several hundred years, and the relations among them are intricate and complex, with many that even they themselves can’t articulate.”

Staring at Zuo Tingyi, Zuo Tianlin very carefully said, “Don’t look at them as six schools, but look at them as six great powers; floodgates.

Watching the visibly moved Zuo Tingyi arching his shoulders, Zuo Tianlin smiled lightly, “Does that seem incredible to you?”

Zuo Tingyi nodded.

“Mmm” Zuo Tianlin grunted coldly, “There are many more incredible things than this. Don’t look at any of the six as though their glamorous appearance would deserve people’s respect, since their methods are sometimes much dirtier and more extreme than ours. They have underhandedly done many sordid things to be able to get to where they are now. Although Star Academy isn’t revealing its true colors just now and has been looking a little worn out these few years, how could the foundations that they have laid down across so many years be matched by any other school?”

Zuo Tingyi was mute, while inwardly, his world seemed to have been turned upside down of a sudden. In that instant there appeared quite a few moments of utter loss.

“After such a long period of inactivity, Star Academy suddenly makes a big move? There is certainly something behind this. If I haven’t guessed wrongly, what we are seeing now is the turning point in their resurgence.” Zuo Tianlin’s gaze was full of wisdom.

Zuo Tingyi stared at his father in surprise. The jolt he had gotten from that day’s news was really too much.

Looking at Zuo Tingyi’s expression, Zuo Tianlin relaxed his countenance, “Don’t worry. Although I don’t know why Star Academy has come, I think that their coming this time is just their first outpost, with the real forces yet to come.”

Zuo Tingyi left his father’s library in a state of terror, having completely forgotten about those few one-star fantasy cards still in his pocket. His mind was full of what his father had just said.

In every young persons’ heart, the six are the most sacred of the sacred places, and it wasn’t any different for Zuo Tingyi. Unfortunately, the admissions requirements for the six were a lot more stringent than anyone could imagine. Even someone like Zuo Tingyi who had such a genius-style youth at Eastern Wei Academy, would have no way to be admitted. And on that point, the power and influence of the Zuo family would be of no help to him.

So suddenly, those things he held sacred in his heart had been subverted – no matter who it might have happened to, they would have been utterly flummoxed.

* * *

Chen Mu and Copper rented a different house, on the insistence of Copper. Since making the card play, Copper had enjoyed hanging out at Chen Mu’s place. Adding to that the pile of raw materials, Chen Mu’s paltry little place had become obviously cramped. Their new place was in the small town of Burlington, to the northeast of Eastern Shang-Wei City.

Eastern Shang-Wei City didn’t simply refer to a city, but rather to a municipal district encompassing many small towns scattered about, having Eastern Shang-Wei City proper as their center.

Burlington’s rent was a lot cheaper than the city proper, and two people could easily rent a large set of rooms. Naturally, nothing made Chen Mu happier than having a workplace to make his cards. Even though the card making room was extremely simple, he was still quite pleased.

Once they had fixed everything up, the two of them sat on the floor looking at the house which was as clean as new, and smiled at each other.

“Blockhead, now we have to get the new card play ready. I’ve already thought-out most of the screenplay.” Copper said with heroic vanity.

Chen Mu grunted a sound of agreement, and then asked, “What is the new card play called?”

“The Legend of Master Shi!” Copper pronounced loftily, while Chen Mu remained at a loss to his side.

There were still a lot of details to flesh out in Copper’s screenplay, which gave Chen Mu some time. He’d already finished three of the necessary twelve fantasy cards, and those three were hardly smooth sailing. On the contrary, Chen Mu didn’t know how many mistakes and how much of his scalp he’d clawed off on them. And moreover, he’d used up about 400,000 in materials for only those three fantasy cards. Still, Chen Mu had gained a lot in comparison with the difficulties and waste of before.

The complexity of the three fantasy cards far exceeded that advertising he had seen at the Two Hoops card store that time on Golden Street. Before that time, he would absolutely never have dared to imagine that he could make those fantasy cards, while he was full of confidence by then. He knew that he could certainly finish the twelve cards, even if it would use up more time.

He felt that he had just about touched the true core of the one-star fantasy card.

But as compared with his soaring card making abilities, any advance to his perception was simply at a snail’s pace. Given his current perception, he could only make one-star fantasy cards, and would have some difficulty to even make a two-star fantasy card.

He was quite helpless up against the issues with perception. It wasn’t his diligence, but rather that he didn’t have a smooth training routine. Since it wasn’t something he could resolve by diligence, he didn’t think it was worth thinking about any further. Chen Mu’s attitude was very calm at that time; even given that his perception hadn’t progressed at all, he could depend on his fantasy card making abilities to get rid of any worries about his living.

After finishing the first three cards, he increased his speed quite a bit for the other nine cards, on the power of accumulated experience. Theory and experience are always the two most powerful weapons.

“OK, here’s the script, read it and then we’ll discuss it.” Copper was looking a little haggard as he ran to Chen Mu’s room, but his spirits were extraordinarily exuberant.

Taking the script, Chen Mu carefully looked it over.

Chen Mu’s first thought was that “The Legend of Master Shi” was a long story.

“This story will take many many fantasy cards!” Chen Mu cautioned Copper.

Copper laughed, “Relax, I didn’t say we make it all at once. First we’ll make the first installment.”

“We can do that?” Chen Mu looked surprised.

“You have no culture! This is called a serial!” Copper looked disdainfully at Chen Mu, and then followed on with a very satisfied look, “Don’t worry, I’ll leave some suspense at the end of each installment, making them crave the next one, and carry that on through the third, the fourth, . . . ” Copper spread his hands to the heavens and with a face full of self-satisfaction, “And thus we will thrive!”