The Card Apprentice

Card artisans had the upper hand against those from cardless sects. Levitation and long-range attacks were, needless to say, the most obvious of all. Especially when the two were combined, the advantage would be even greater. This aspect was apparent in this battle. By pulling away, Chen Mu could even calmly exchange cards, which was unthinkable in battles among card artisans. This also meant that he upheld his position of initiator throughout the battle.

The Fiend’s Eye. The only seven-star card that Chen Mu had at hand. It was also the strongest among laser type cards.

The Fiend’s Eye: Wavering Golden Eye!

The small golden eye that was lurking inside the blood-red eye stirred. The icy cold gaze glowed in a golden hue, eyeing Baldie Andrew apathetically.

Andrew’s hair stood on its end without warning. A chill came running from the depth of his heart and flooded down his spine like a sudden tsunami. He had never felt such mortifying danger coming from his opponents in all of his previous battles. He gave a deep growl and tensed up with his legs, slightly bent his knees and firmly stood his ground.

Countless golden strings flared out like rain drizzling from the golden eye and headed toward Andrew.

“Ha!” Andrew exhaled.

His eyes went wide and round like a coin. In a blink of an eye, his bald head was covered with tiny speckles of sweat. He seemed to be having a tough time as he raised his hands together, gradually moving them above his head. To the spectators, his movements were slow, but he managed to hold his hands together high above his head before the rain of golden strings could reach him.

“Ha!”

The air circling Andrew surged and diverged like that of an incoming disaster. That pair of folded hands hacked down like a giant ax!

Rumble! It sounded as if a large boulder had struck the ground.

The spectators went pale, they could barely stand, and the ground was shaking. An air ax the size of Baldie appeared. The end of the lucent ax was vague like mist. The ax resembled a furious titan, fearlessly charging at the golden strings. In the thundering rumble, explosions crackled continuously. It was as if a 10 million-volt thunderbolt had penetrated the water. It sounded like countless dried logs that abruptly cracked into shredded wood collectively. The golden strings and giant ax directly collided.

Ding!

Unexpectedly, there was no roaring eruption but only a tiny clink of a shattered wine glass. The twisted face of Baldie was flushed red as if he was drunk.

The crisp cracking sound rang in everyone’s ears. The shocking impact broke away without warning, replaced by the dead silence of the night.

0.5 seconds!The tranquillity only continued for 0.5 seconds.

Boom!

The vicious energy produced was like a ferocious beast trapped in a cage. It was restlessly tearing the cage apart with its claws and struggling to break free from its prison with a roaring crash. The shockwave of the explosion was like a hurricane, sweeping across the big rift.

Rumble!

The edge of the rift began to crumble into pieces, dirt and dust shrouded the rift. Another perpendicular golden light shot through the curtain of smoke!

In the dust, Baldie, whose face was bright red, growled again. The giant, howling, Air Axe was like a hot knife cutting through butter, effortlessly slicing through the curtain of dust and dirt.

Boom!

There was another loud bang! The energy had gone through collision, suppression, collapse, and explosion. Then it madly dispersed to the surrounding.

Baldie groaned. His body swayed, and he withdrew a step back. The redness on his face had rapidly turned white.

Yet another perpendicular golden light appeared, glowing brighter and denser than before! Baldie Andrew’s eyes bulged from his sockets.

He roared and held out both hands again!

Boom! In the monstrous explosion, Andrew could no longer maintain his stance.

Thump, thump, thump…

He retreated a dozen steps before he managed to stabilize himself.

His face was now as pale as sheets. Blood was ticking down the corner of his lips, and both of his arms were dyed in crimson. He could not stop himself from shivering. His eyes widened as he gazed unblinkingly at Chen Mu who was standing at the far side of the sky.

A ray of golden light suddenly flickered. At that moment, the world stood still. A vertical golden ray of light shot through Andrew’s forehead, burying itself deep in the ground behind him.

Everyone stopped moving. They stared at Andrew blankly, witnessing the golden ray of light that blew a hole through Andrew and pinned him to the ground.

The roaring rumble seemed to have faded in the background. All the sounds in their surroundings had seemingly vanished. They were wide-eyed.

They could not believe it.

Their minds had gone blank!

Under the grey sky, that bewitching face and the striking golden eye were engraved in everyone’s mind. It would be an eternal nightmare that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

“Argh!” Out of nowhere, someone screamed hysterically, breaking the silence. The fear that was buried in the depths of their hearts was no longer containable. Terror broke loose like water charging out from a dam, immediately drowning the last of their reason and courage.

Deep inside their hearts, they only had one thought. Stay away from that monster!

Yes! A monster!

A monster killed Andrew! Oh god! Andrew was killed!

Everyone had the same reaction. They turned and scrambled forwards. These people did not realize that they were screaming; most of their minds were still blank. As Chen Mu watched the enemy retreat, he heaved a sigh of relief. His gaze fell on the bold stout man.

There was a thumb-sized hole in the forehead of Baldie. His eyes were wide, seemingly staring at the sky, but there was no sign of life in his eyes.

Chen Mu respected this cardless sect from the bottom of his heart. From his perspective, Baldie had not lost. The one who had lost was merely the cardless sects. His ability to skillfully manipulate his powers had left Chen Mu in awe.

Chen Mu could not help but wonder, Wei-ah may not be on par with Baldie in this aspect. However, at their level, merely being powerful would not be enough, especially when the opponent was the initiator of the battle; unless they were like Wei-ah, who was crazily powerful in every aspect.

Even if they were as powerful as Wei-ah, in a fight against Tang Hanpei, the one who would be in control over the battle would still be Tang Hanpei. Of course, that’s assuming Tang Hanpei attacks first. Giving it a bit more thought, even if Tang Hanpei was the aggressor, the most likely outcome would be that he could not do anything against Wei-ah. However, Wei-ah was a special case. Baldie was not Wei-ah, so he could not ignore the disadvantages that all cardless sect members have. He was dead.

All in all, Chen Mu still admired Baldie from the bottom of his heart. No matter what field it was, someone who could achieve this level of skill was worthy of respect. He sat down beside the corpse of Baldie. The battle just now had not lasted long, but his perception was almost completely depleted. He had never consecutively used three full-force attacks of the Fiend’s Eye. If the enemy had charged at him, he could only resort to running away. Thankfully, fear had ruled them, and they had escaped.

Deep tranquillity played an exceptional role in replenishing perception. About an hour later, Chen Mu’s perception was restored. Entering deep tranquillity quickly and effectively had become part of Chen Mu’s instinct. This was due to the days when he engaged in endless battles in the depths of the Hundred Depths.

Chen Mu stood up and glanced at Baldie’s dead body. With an effortless flick of his hand, he blasted a big hole in the ground and buried Baldie’s body. He could not bear the thought of leaving an expert this powerful to die out in the wild unattended.

His emotions gradually settle in calmness, and he continued to fly towards the direction where the cardless sects had escaped. The cardless sects had left him with various clues so he could easily trace their escape route.

Controlling emotions held the utmost importance in a battle. He had profoundly experienced this in the depths of the Hundred Depths when countless vicious beast climbed out from the mountains of corpses and the blood-dyed sea.

Sometimes, staying calm was beneficial to one’s judgment. Other times, the excitement was required to let the adrenaline rush through the veins. This would allow one to outperform himself or herself. Whereas, fear would be necessary to avoid danger, especially when the threat was far greater than what could be handled.

“Andrew was killed? The opponent was only a single person?” King asked grimly. The golden mask symbolizing royalty was cold as usual. However, everyone could hear the burning fury concealed in the King’s calm voice that was coming from under the mask.

Andrew was King’s right-hand man, King’s most faithful servant, King’s sharpest sword at hand, King’s protector, and the most reliable line of defense! As long as he existed, no one dared to defy King’s command. As long as he lived, King could sleep in peace no matter where he was. As for the reason, ever since the disappearance of that person, Andrew had become the strongest man in Mohadi Domain! Yet, he still died. All the ministers below sincerely admired King as he was still able to maintain his composure.

“Who did it?” King had calmed down swiftly.

“A card artisan. He was able to summon a blood-red eye, which was able to fire golden rays. The golden rays killed Andrew,” the subordinate reported shakily. He was suddenly overcome with shame. He had ran away because he was afraid.

“A card artisan?” King crooked his head as he asked. His voice seemed to relax a little. Just like him, slight relief spread to the hearts of many of the subordinates below as well.

“Blood-red eye?” King was lost in his thoughts as he muttered under his breath without warning, “Mo…”

He paused sharply as his thoughts escaped his lips. He turned around, settling on his throne once more. King had regained his somberness once again.

“I feel ashamed,” slight sarcasm came from under the mask, stinging the hearts of the subordinates.

“Oh well, he could defeat Andrew, that’s impressive. Still, he was alone. We had so many in numbers but feared one single opponent. This had happened once before, but I did not think that it would happen again. Such a shame!”

The subordinates below had flushed in an instant. King’s sarcasm was like a big slap to their faces. A village representative stood up and shouted, “Your majesty, please let the matter go. I will sacrifice my life to kill this thief for your majesty!”

Everyone stood up at once, bowed their heads and shouted in unison, “We swear to kill this thief for your majesty!”

An icy cold gaze scanned through everyone from behind the mask. King chuckled lightly, “Not for me, but for yourselves. Go and gain back the dignity that you lost.”

He finished his words and stood up from the throne. With a wave of his sleeves, he gave out a command coated with malice.

“Go!”