Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The next day.

Early morning.

Lu Ming rushed to the Card Creators Association.

However…

To his surprise, he saw an old acquaintance there—Li Haoran.

Eh?

This guy was from the Chong Yang branch. What was he doing here?

“It’s you?”

Li Haoran saw Lu Ming as well.

“You are still a two-star?”

Li Haoran sounded disappointed.

He was very disappointed.

It was true.

It was partly due to the exchange match that spurred him on to become successful! If Lu Ming did not say all those words to spite him, he would not have become the successful person that he was today. It was because he harbored hatred that he was able to break through!

But now—

He was already a four-star Card Creator!

He had achieved instant success!

But Lu Ming…

He was still a two-star.

It was too weak!

This… was his opponent?

It was ridiculous to think that he was angered by his words.

Sigh.

Li Haoran gave a deep sigh.

It was really…

Now that he thought of it, he was too narrow-minded.

Humans would not be angry with the roadside ants. As a four-star powerful cultivator, he should not be bothered with a small fry like Lu Ming. This was the mindset that he should have.

“You better conduct yourself well.”

Li Haoran looked proud and haughty. “You are not fit to be my opponent.”

However…

He had just adjusted his state of mind and had barely taken two steps when he heard a familiar taunt.

“But I beat your dad.”

Li Haoran could feel anger rising.

“This damn lad! You have no idea what you have just done.”

Li Haoran’s voice was very cold and distant.

“But I beat your dad.”

Lu Ming sneered coldly.

“I am a four-star!”

Li Haoran gritted his teeth.

“But I beat your dad.”

Lu Ming pursed his lips.

Hehe.

Damn!

He was here to test the stability of the card, yet he ran across this person at the entrance. Actually, Lu Ming could not be bothered to deal with him.

However, upon seeing him, the person showed his disappointment and mocked him…

Why was he so dramatic?!

Perhaps he suffered from eighth-grade syndrome (This is typically used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur, who so desperately want to stand out that they have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers)?

A four-star?

What had it to do with him?

He did not go around telling people that he could kill a row of four-stars with his Moonblade.

“You…”

Li Haoran was so angry that he almost spat a mouthful of blood.

This was too much!

Was he Echo?!

Why did he keep repeating the same sentence?!

He felt that he had a very good temper. As the absolute genius that was a four-star at a young age, he chose not to be angered by Lu Ming, who was merely a two-star Card Creator.

He was very mild-tempered.

He was being merciful.

He had a strong foundation and was gifted!

But, look at the outcome?

Lu Ming kept repeating that he had beaten his father. It was frustrating!

Well…

The students in the school had no idea of social hierarchy.

He used to behave the same way back then. When he had just achieved a two-star or three-star, he was very arrogant. But now that he was a four-star, he was much more collected.

“I will forgive your unreasonable behavior.”

Li Haoran took a deep breath. “You are merely an ordinary student. After you graduate, when you spend the next ten years stuck at two-star or three-star… By then you will understand. You will understand the significance of being a four-star. You will also realize how frightening it is to offend me. You should be relieved I am not those four-star cultivators who have many years of experience in society. I won’t take issue with you. Hopefully, you will not be so foolish next time.”

Li Haoran shook his head and left.

Eh?

Lu Ming looked baffled. What nonsense was he talking about?

Was he being dramatic again?

…

“What brings you here?”

The sales manager walked towards him.

“What is happening?”

Lu Ming pointed toward Li Haoran.

“What else could it be?”

The sales manager pursed his lips. “He is here to brag! Do you remember that the Chong Yang branch suffered a devastating defeat last time? The president was almost suspended from duties. Perhaps, after the defeat, Li Haoran managed to break through to a four-star and became a rare genius. Chong Yang branch will definitely make use of this chance to brag.”

“Look, all of them are here.”

“Don’t provoke him.”

The sales manager shook his head slightly. “There might be trouble.”

“Huh?”

Lu Ming felt baffled. What would happen?

“Well…”

The sales manager shook his head. “Forget it. It’s better not to say it.”

Damn!

Couldn’t he finish his sentence and not leave people guessing?

He was most annoyed with this kind of person. Looking at how the sales manager swallowed back the words on the tip of his tongue, he must be waiting for him to ask more questions.

Hehe.

He would not do that. He should see how he suffered from not being able to say what was in his mind!

“I will go to the testing area.”

Lu Ming waved his hands.

The sales manager looked dumbstruck. He could only swallow the words that were at the tip of his tongue.

He was merely keeping him in suspense…

Damn!

It was upsetting!

…

In the testing area.

Lu Ming walked to the three-star area automatically.

After what happened last time, he was given access rights to the testing area.

However…

He had yet to start when he received a message—Zhang Yang wanted to see him.

Zhang Yang?

Lu Ming paused for a moment.

Why would the president of the association look for him?

He left the testing area to go upstairs. He was shocked when he reached the office to see President Zhang Yang sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in a layer of gauze.

He looked as if he suffered from serious injuries and had barely healed.

“Are you hurt?”

Lu Ming was taken aback.

Zhang Yang did not say anything but clumsily turned the wheelchair around, staring at Lu Ming with an indistinct look. Lu Ming felt strange at the way he looked at him.

His expression…

People might have the idea that he had done something to Zhang Yang!

“Are you alright?”

Lu Ming asked cautiously.

“What do you think?”

Zhang Yang looked at the gauze on himself.

Cough, cough.

“Well…”

Lu Ming coughed. “Who is so daring to beat you?”

“What do you think?”

Zhang Yang cast him a meaningful glance. “Someone told me that he was not a four-star Assassin… There’s no need to be afraid…”

Eh?

Could it be…

Lu Ming’s eyes widened suddenly.

Li Haoran?!

Damn, he was daring enough to beat Zhang Yang?

He must be courting death!

“Was he able to defeat you?”

Lu Ming exclaimed in shock.

Putting aside the fact that he was daring enough to beat him, Li Haoran was a young Card Creator, why would he be able to defeat Zhang Yang, the wily old fox? This was not logical.

“Of course not.”

Zhang Yang sounded angry. “However, after breaking through to four-star, he created cards for a four-star Assassin and did not ask for compensation. Do you know why?”

He actually did that!

He did not expect Li Haoran to do that!

Therefore, did it mean that the guy told the four-star Assassin to beat Zhang Yang?

This was a harsh world.

“This is setting a bad example.”

Lu Ming sighed. “Didn’t you get someone to fight back?”

“I did.”

Zhang Yang said in a muffle, “Normal four-star Assassins refused to take the job as they felt that Li Haoran was too young. It’s either they don’t offend him or they kill him directly.”

Speaking of which, he gave a deep sigh.

It was true.

What if he reported this to the higher-ups?

He did not have any evidence!

Fight back?

The Assassins refused to accept his job. Unless he was serious about silencing him… but this was merely a small fight. It would get serious if someone died!

Once someone died, the association would intervene!

Everyone would be affected!

Therefore…

They could only deal with it in secret!

This was considered as a personal vendetta!

Nobody wanted to alarm the association. It seemed there was no way that he could seek justice for himself.

Sigh.

Why was he so foolish to believe in what Lu Ming said back then? Although he was not a four-star Assassin, he could look for a four-star Assassin to help him.

Zhang Yang heaved continuous sighs.

Lu Ming was between laughter and tears. He did not know what he should say.

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t call you here because of this.”

Zhang Yang shook his head. “I know that your sister is very formidable, therefore, you are fearless. However, they did not know of Lu Yan…”

“So… You must keep a lookout and not offend Li Haoran,” Zhang Yang reminded him.

He was worried that something would happen to Lu Ming.

Last time Lu Ming lent them a helping hand. It was alright if he was beaten by the other party, but Lu Ming was still too weak and their opponent ruthless…

If anything happened to Lu Ming, it would be troublesome.

“Uh.”

Lu Ming was reminded of what happened just now. “I am afraid that I have already offended him.”

“I hope it’s not too serious?”

Zhang Yang frowned.

“I think it should be fine. I merely repeated myself a few times.”

Lu Ming thought about it.

“Hahahaha.”

Zhang Yang smiled dryly. If what he repeated was something involving the father, the other party must be seriously offended.

“You could hide in the association for a few days.”

Zhang Yang had a headache. He knew that Li Haoran would definitely get someone to beat Lu Ming. “Li Haoran has just broken through to a four-star. It is normal to be egoistic about it. What you said just now…”

“It’s alright.”

Lu Ming could not be bothered.

So what if the other party was a four-star Assassin?

Hehe.

Although he was not very powerful now, he was still able to use Moonblade once…

Dong!

Dong!

Someone knocked on the door.

“President, the Chong Yang branch said that they are ready,” the assistant reported.

“Okay.”

Zhang Yang nodded slightly. “I will be there right away.”

“All of them are here?”

Lu Ming narrowed his eyes. Could it be an exchange match again?

“It is a learning seminar.”

Zhang Yang slightly nodded. “Li Haoran has just broken through to a four-star. He is the youngest four-star Card Creator to date in the nearby ten cities. Chong Yang branch has especially applied for Li Haoran to be the representative to talk to other branches about how to break through to a four-star as soon as possible.”

Lu Ming looked dumbstruck. He did not know one could hold a conference on this topic.

This was simply bragging openly?!

What was the point?

Well…

Shouldn’t he be in the stabilizing stage now that he had broken through to a four-star?

Why would Li Haoran agree to it?

Lu Ming was a little puzzled.

It was true.

It was normal that the Chong Yang branch needed to bounce back from their defeat last time and to go around bragging and to increase their popularity. But wasn’t it too much to bring Li Haoran with them all over the place?

Did he have a lot of time on his hands?

The cultivators, Zhao Yunshan, Gao Tianlang and even Wu Hongfei whom Lu Ming had met in the legacy were all working hard on improving themselves! They could not wait to be more talented and to have more time to cultivate…

Why would Li Haoran go from one city to another to brag?

This would take up a lot of time!

He must be really powerful!

“His father agreed to it.”

Zhang Yang found it odd as well. “I heard that this will look good for his father. Since Li Haoran spends all his time in Chong Yang city and he feels no pressure doing this, they felt that it was alright to set aside some time for this.”

Tsk tsk.

Lu Ming was surprised.

Comrade Li Aiguo was really simple-minded!

As for Li Haoran…

“Doesn’t he use the internet?”

Lu Ming was surprised.

There was a lot of information regarding other talented Card Creators on the internet.

“No one would go to these lengths to brag like him.”

Zhang Yang pursed his lips. “Are you saying that a real talented Card Creator would create cards quietly? Anyway, apart from his talents, Li Haoran is just an ordinary college student.”

“Do you think… He will be able to reach that level?”

That was right.

Lu Ming was filled with emotions.

A talent was ruined.

This was not only due to his father, but Li Haoran was also being limited to a small city like Chong Yang and was forever ranked first in this place. He might never have the motivation to do better!

Did he ever wonder why they named him as the ‘First place in the nearby ten cities’?

Well…

Because if it was extended to other cities, there would be other talents who were better than him.

“Aren’t you angry?”

Lu Ming felt amused.

He was being slapped in the face!

“It’s alright.”

Zhang Yang looked indifferent. “Although most of it was boasting, if three-star peak cultivators are able to be motivated by him, it is considered a good thing.”

As for the beating that he suffered…

It did not matter.

This was not the first time he was beaten.

This was the third time this year that he was beaten. It was nothing.

“I will go and take a look as well.”

Lu Ming pondered deeply.

If the effect was good, he really felt like checking it out.

The key to breaking through…

Could it be the condensation of the Original Card?

Right now, his energy quality had reached a three-star peak. Perhaps he should take a look and see for himself how Li Haoran conducted his class.

Hence…

Lu Ming went with Zhang Yang to the seminar.

However…

It turned out that they had been thinking too much.

The conference room was fully occupied when Zhang Yang and Lu Ming arrived.

When Lu Ming pushed Zhang Yang’s wheelchair over to the conference room, Li Haoran had already started the academic conference which he was very familiar with…

Lu Ming turned back to look at the crowd. Most of the participants had fallen asleep.

This guy did not touch on any technical information in his speech. He was merely talking about the difficult situation at home, how hard it had been on his father, as well as how he had worked hard, after putting in efforts and going through hardships, he had finally made it to who he was today. He also expressed his gratitude to the Chong Yang branch who gave him a lot of support.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

This was merely bragging and showing off!

“Speaking of breaking through, I was reminded of my father’s hard work… Speaking of cultivation, I was reminded of what I had been through…”

…

Hehe.

Lu Ming pursed his lips.

He was capable of making such a speech as well. Speaking of making good speeches, he was reminded of Monk Sha (He is one of the three disciples of the Buddhist pilgrim Tang Sanzang in the novel Journey to the West) who was good with words. Regarding Monk Sha, at the beginning of next year, China and America would be filming a…

Look.

Was the change in topic done subtly?

There was no need for that guy!

This was an academic conference! He should be talking about technical and academic information.

Forget it.

Lu Ming shook his head.

“I will leave first.”

He whispered to Zhang Yang, intending to make a move.

He did not wish to waste his precious time here. However, he was just about to leave when Li Haoran cast a glance at him and changed his topic.

“Does everyone want to know the key to breaking through? Right? I am here to tell everyone that the key is stability!”

“As long as the Original Card is very stable, it will be able to condense! This is why only three-star peaks can try doing it! However… What is stability?”

“I am sure many Card Creators have no idea.”

“Of course, the thing about cultivation is that even if I share with all of you, you might not be able to understand, especially when it is an intangible concept. Therefore, it is best to explain it through the battling of two Original Cards.”

“Let me get someone… Right. You. The person who has stood up voluntarily.”

Li Haoran spoke to Lu Ming who was about to leave. “It’s rare for people from Qing Ming City to be cooperating actively with us. Come, let’s demonstrate.”

“Me?”

Lu Ming was dumbstruck.

Brother… Are you serious?