Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Qing Ming City.

 In the shop.

 Lu Ming was expressionless as he looked at the little thing vibrating on the table.

 Buzz—

 Buzz—

 The little thing was vibrating constantly, extremely mischievous.

 That d.a.m.n communication device. Since Li Haoran messaged him, it had not stopped… It had been vibrating…

Shus.h.!.+

 Lu Ming simply chucked it aside.

 Sword Card Master…

 His head hurt at the thought of it now.

 All this while, he had tried his best not to recruit people into the vocation and control the number of inc.u.mbents, never did he expect…

 Unknowingly, there were already four of them!

 Furthermore…

 There might be more to come!

 “Xiao-Xiaojian.”

 Lu Ming sighed.

 He was already used to being alone.

 He did not like to bear heavy burdens. If there were more Sword Card Masters, everyone's future was tantamount to a responsibility which weighed down heavily on Lu Ming's heart.

 He disliked this kind of feeling.

 And now…

 Sigh.

 Lu Ming looked out of the windows, unable to conceal his sorrow.

 He merely wanted to be a boring and idle person.

 It was true.

 Xiao-Xiaojian looked at Lu Ming and felt that he looked ridiculous. “Why are you worried and bothered? Does the development of the Sword Card Master have anything to do with you now?”

Was he ill?!

 Li Haoran was the one managing both the publicity and the teaching materials now.

Xiaoyan was the one who partic.i.p.ated in compet.i.tions.

 Even the research on dyeing cards and so on were done by Xiaobai!

 All of this…

 What does it have to do with you?

 Besides being a mascot, what other use do you have?

 Troubled?

 Why are you feeling troubled?

 Lu Ming fell silent for a moment. He then dragged Xiao-Xiaojian to a corner and gave it a round of bas.h.i.+ngs.

 “d.a.m.n! You're too talkative!”

 After giving Xiao-Xiaojian a harsh round of beatings, Lu Ming felt much better.

 Afterward…

 He was no longer worried about the matters regarding the Sword Card Master vocation.

 Although Xiao-Xiaojian's words were not pleasant-sounding, they seemed logical. The current developments of the Sword Card Master vocation did not have anything to do with him…

 Cough.

 Obviously, Li Haoran had thorough plans and goals.

 Since this was the case…

 Well…

 He could not be bothered then.

 “Haoran, I'll stop the members.h.i.+p applications to the a.s.sociations from coming to me. In the future, all the messages will go to you. Henceforth, you'll be fully responsible for handling this. You must not lower the requirements!”

 Lu Ming messaged Li Haoran using Xiaobai's communication device.

 Somewhere.

 Upon receiving the message, Li Haoran felt so emotional that he almost jumped.

 Full responsibility!

 This was his master's absolute trust in him!

 This meant that…

 He would have full authority over recruitment!

 “Unspoken rules! Unspoken rules!” the teenager in black said excitedly.

 “Get lost!”

 Li Haoran kicked him.

 “d.a.m.n! Can't you do something decent?!”

 “Humph!”

 The teenager in black pursed his lips.

 He turned back to the corner and began to cultivate quietly again. “Dagger, dagger, you have already grown up. You are a mature dagger, you have to learn to cultivate by yourself…”

 Li Haoran was having a headache. “That won't work for you. You're not a Sword Card Master!”

 “Bulls.h.i.+t!”

 The teenager in black sneered. “If the Sword Card Master can do it, why can't I?”

 He had witnessed the entire process of Li Haoran reciting to his card!

 There were no skills involved at all!

 Furthermore…

 There was nothing strange. There was only one thing that mattered – sincerity. Since that was the case, if Li Haoran could give birth to a card spirit, why couldn't he?!

 What this did have to do with the vocation?!

 His reasoning was very sound.

 “If you dare, tell me why a card spirit appears for a Sword Card Master?” the teenager in black said coldly.

 Li Haoran was speechless.

 He really did not know.

 “Look.”

 The teenager in lack pursed his lips and continued to recite at the corner quietly.

 Li Haoran looked at the sky.

 This…

 How could he persuade him?

 Forget it.

 He could not be bothered anymore.

 It was safer for the teenager in black to do this than be out on a mission.

 Oo…

 Li Haoran looked at the names and information from the batches of application. Bearing in mind his master's reminder, he refused to accept anyone with lesser talents and looks!

 If the Sword Card Master vocation wanted to develop further, they needed the most talented people!

 “Will you still have the time to cultivate?” the teenager in black suddenly asked.

 He felt that all of Li Haoran's energy and time had been spent on the trifles of the Sword Card Master vocation!

 Enrollment applications, tidying up of official materials, writing of guidelines and a ma.s.sive number of nitty-gritty details… In such circ.u.mstances, Li Haoran would gradually be surpa.s.sed by other people!

“This won't do,” The teenager said seriously, “I know you like this vocation! I know that you want to develop this vocation! However, becoming stronger is the priority! You must focus on cultivating.”

 The teenager in black sighed.

 Li Haoran cast him a strange look.

 “What's the matter?”

 The teenager was puzzled.

 “There.”

 Li Haoran pointed at the corner of the hotel room.

 Over there.

 Li Haoran's Original Card was glowing fervently. Vaguely, he could sense the energy in the Original Card increasingly gradually.

 The teenager in black took a glance and instantly shut up.

 Oh.

 He had forgotten about this.

 d.a.m.n it!

 Hence…

 He felt envious again and could only return to his corner and continue reciting.

 In the suburbs.

 Somewhere.

 Bright screens were suspended in the air and the Scouts were deducing the future.

 Buzz—

 Buzz—

 Many bright stars sparkled, forming a star chart.

 A fish, a bar, two snakes and a sword…

The star chart of five illusory spirit bodies formed the map of Qing Ming City. However, the spirit body was entirely different from their imagination.

 A snake…

 Why did it appear? 

Why are there two snakes?

 One male and one female. What does it mean?

 The two extremes of ‘yin' and ‘yang'?

 A great male and female duo?

 “Do you have any updates on the information that I asked you to verify?” the Scout suddenly asked.

 “I've already confirmed it twice. It's definitely a female snake. Those people were not the only ones who saw it, even the policemen confirmed this. Furthermore… there was a video! The video where a faint shadow flashed across the screen that we saw last time…

 Although the details are not clear, it was enough to prove the existence of that female snake,” one of the staff members said.

 “Really?”

 The Scout had a deep and profound gaze.

 Before his eyes…

 Stars dazzled.

 He activated the deduction technique again. The star chart swirled and its nodes twinkled. Those spirit bodies began to rotate and come alive.

 After a long time…

 Click!

 The s.h.i.+ning stars disappeared in an instant.

 His deduction stopped…

 He was wrong again!

 If the data was correct, there was only one possibility – a more powerful Scout had taken action and was using his powerful abilities to interrupt him…

 Didn't this happen last time?

 The appearance of the female snake…

 Heh.

 He was tricked because he did not take any precautions!

 However, this time…

 “Get ready to attack!

 Aim at Qing Ming City. I want to see whether any spirit bodies are hiding in Qing Ming City!”

 There was a cold glint in the eyes of the Scout. “Activate the screening filter and only track the spirit bodies born in Qing Ming City. I want to see how many spirit bodies are hidden there!”

 “Yes!”

 The staff remember obeyed the orders.

 Hence

 The team of Scouts launched into full action.

The target—

 Qing Ming City!

 Using the computer as a core, the Scouts began to activate their deduction abilities on a ma.s.sive scale. They aimed them at Qing Ming City and a deduction operation of the largest scale commenced!

 Ten percent… fifty percent…

 Very soon…

 The deduction was a success!

 In the lights.

 Three red dots appeared in a strange and mysterious way.

 Shus.h.!.+

 Everyone looked at the red dots in disbelief.

 Three!

 There were actually three!

 A snake, a sword and a void…

 Qing Ming City… During their planning period, there were actually three spirit bodies which did not match their deductions. If they had not deliberately done a deduction this time… They were worried that…

“Lock on to their locations!”

 The team of Scouts launched into action.

 “However, the other party…”

 A man was worried.

 “He won't dare.”

 The head of the Scout team sneered. “His only advantage is that he's hidden! He may be slightly stronger than me but he is definitely not stronger than our team!

“If he dares to make a move, he will definitely be dead meat!

 “All of you, keep a close watch!

 “Once anything that is in our deduction appears…

“Chase and kill it immediately!”

 He said coldly.

 “Understood.”

 Everyone followed the orders.

 They knew that a silent war had begun!

 This battle… was one between Scouts!

 This battle was the battle of deduction abilities!

 Bang!

There was a surge of strong powers.

 The team of Scouts was on the move. This was the largest-scale operation that they had launched before implementing their actual plan. It was also to force that mystery Scout to appear!

 Shus.h.!.+

 Three spirit bodies were locked onto at that instant.

 Buzz—

 Buzz—

 The data on the screen flickered.

 Rows of data flashed across the screen. It represented their search for all details such as time, location and character that were related to the three spirit bodies, as well as images of their past appearances…

 Shus.h.!.+

 Shus.h.!.+

 Lights flashed.

 The a.n.a.lysis information for each spirit body was increasing.

 Twenty percent!

 Forty percent!

 Sixty percent!

 Data deductions were going on rapidly.

 “Has that person made any moves?” the head of the Scouts team asked.

 “No,” the Scout told the truth.

 The staff member shook his head slightly.

 “Get ready.”

 If it was him, he would definitely choose to strike at the last moment and retaliate at the point when the three coordinates were revealed!

 And he was waiting for this chance!

 This Scout… would have to die!

 Ninety percent!

 Ninety-five percent!

 Everyone was focusing their gaze.

 Shus.h.!.+

 Shus.h.!.+

 The numbers were jumping.

 At the moment when the location of the three spirit bodies was going to be deduced, a distinctive aura suddenly emerged!

 “It's coming!”

 “Do it now!”

 The Scouts were thrilled.

 Idiot!

 We were waiting for you to strike!

 Although you're more powerful than us, we have an entire team! We'll show you the power of the combination of a team of Scouts and contemporary technology!

 Bang!

Ma.s.sive powers swept across the spirit bodies and then towards the Scout.

 However…

 At that very moment…

 A surge of irrepressible mental strength suddenly landed on them!

 Bang!

Countless machines exploded on the spot!

 Pfft!

 The Scouts spat fresh blood from their mouths and everyone was severely injured!

 “How can this be possible?!”

 Fear and trepidation was etched on the faces of all the Scouts.

 The Scout who had never attacked was actually that powerful!!!

 “Seven-star and above!”

 The Scouts were in utter despair.

 Given their abilities, they could not endure the other party's mental strength. The only possibility was that the other party was minimally a seven-star! It was very likely that their plan this time had been targeted!

 “Let's go!

 “Leave this place!

 “Request reinforcements from the higher-ups immediately. This is not something that we can deal with…”

 Right then.

 Somewhere.

 In the Sea of Consciousness.

 A black cat opened its eyes in a daze.

 Oo…

 It had not struck for a long time.

 Just a moment ago, a gush of thoughts actually wanted to make deductions about him through Xiao-Xiaojian. Therefore, it slapped the thought back.

 Afterward…

 It lounged and went back to sleep again.

 Bam!

 Bam!

 It subconsciously flung its tail around.

 At this very moment…

 In the shop.

 Lu Ming saw Xiao-Xiaojian suddenly jolting up.

 “What's the matter?”

 Lu Ming found it odd.

 “A while ago… Something came over me!”

 Xiao-Xiaojian's murderous intent was obvious.

 At that moment, he felt a surge of powers sweeping across him. Therefore, he wanted to retaliate immediately. However, just as he wanted to strike…

 That gush of powers from the other side simply collapsed!

 “What is it?”

 Lu Ming was alarmed.

 “I don't know.”

 It collapsed before I could even strike.”

 Xiao-Xiaojian was also filled with suspicion.

 Lu Ming was silent.

 It turned out that Xiao-Xiaojian was that shameless. Why else would someone praise themselves that way?

 “I'm serious.”

 Xiao-Xiaojian was glowing.

 “Do you think everyone is as shameless as you?”

 The surge of powers had really collapsed but he was not the one who caused its collapse!

 “Let me look at it,” Lu Ming said in a low voice.

 Buzz—

 He threw out an Illusory Eye Card.

 It was peaceful and quiet outside. He did not discover any powerful enemy.

 “This is strange. Perhaps I sensed things wrong?”

 Xiao-Xiaojian was baffled.

 “Impossible!”

 Lu Ming thought about it.

 Xiao-Xiaojian's forte was its sense of perception. How could it be wrong?!

 If the enemies were not in the vicinity, the only possibility was those uncanny long-distance abilities such as a curse or something strange.

 Well…

 Perhaps…

 Someone cast a curse on him?

 He had to consider this possibility.

 Oh.

 He could find someone to take a look.

 “Old Wu.”

 Lu Ming messaged Wu Hongfei, “How's business been recently?”

 “Fairly good.”

 Wu Hongfei was obviously in a good mood.

 The recent strange happenings in Qing Ming City had increased his earnings tremendously. He was feeling quite well-to-do. This was something that he had never experienced when he was a Swordsman.

 “Let's have dinner tonight. We have not met for a long time,” Lu Ming said.

 “Sure,” Wu Hongfei agreed.

 In the evening.

 After rus.h.i.+ng into the shop, he felt curious when he heard of the possible curse.

 “Let me look at it.”

 Wu Hongfei was enthusiastic.

 Having said that, he fished out a rusty and unique looking disc from his pocket.

 “Where did you get that from?”

 Lu Ming was curious.

 “It's an heirloom…” Wu Hongfei instinctively said.

 He then remembered that Lu Ming knew that he was once a Swordsman and instantly changed his words, “I exchanged it for fifty yuan at an antique store before I came.”

 Lu Ming was speechless.

 Alright.

 You're the expert, you call the shots!

 Wu Hongfei coughed once. His heart ached as he p.r.i.c.ked his fingertip.

 Shus.h.!.+

 A drop of blood landed.

 The rusty ancient disc began to s.h.i.+ne.

 Buzz—

 Splendorous s.h.i.+ne engulfed the place.

 It eventually landed on Lu Ming.

 Eh?

 Rubbing his eyes, Wu Hongfei cast a strange look at Lu Ming. He thought that he had seen it wrong. After he took a closer look, his eyes instantly widened!

 “Lu Ming, your body…”

 Wu Hongfei's expression changed drastically.

 “What's the matter?”

 Lu Ming had a grave expression on his face.

 Could it be that…

 There was really a horrible curse?!

 “It's not a curse! You have to be careful!”

 Wu Hongfei said anxiously. At this moment, he was surrounded by lights and aiming his energy at Lu Ming, hollering, “What cat is that? How dare you…”

 Bam!

 A black shadow flashed.

 Bang!

There was a deafening sound.

 Wu Hongfei was blasted to the wall of the shop… It was the kind blast where he could not be taken down from the wall after.

 Shus.h.!.+

 There was dead silence in the shop.