29: The butterfly dance startles the enemy's tracks, and the Nine Stars finally break through!

The opponent was very patient.

Or rather, very cautious.

Lu Yuan's thoughts stirred, and he deliberately relaxed his body, stretching with a slightly large motion, instantly exposing the gap in his back.

Now!

Shhh... shhh... extremely faint footsteps came from behind the huge ancient tree to his front left!

They're here!

Lu Yuan suddenly turned his head, a faint glow of Source Power flashing in his eyes!

The dark vision was instantly pierced!

Two shadowy figures clearly appeared in his sight!

They weren't wearing the Black Water Gang's characteristic black skull jackets.

They were two men in ordinary hunting attire, one tall and one short, with undisguised greed on their faces, stealthily approaching.

The faint sense of being watched seemed to originate from a card hanging at one of their waists, emitting a weak fluctuation.

A reconnaissance skill card?

Lu Yuan instantly understood, and at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't the Black Water Gang.

Just two rogue Card Masters trying to take advantage of the situation.

Judging by the Source Power fluctuations emanating from them, they were probably around the level of a Second-Tier Three-star Card Master Apprentice.

They must have been attracted by the scent of roasted meat earlier, or by his solitary presence.

"Heh heh, kid, you're quite lucky, huh? You dare to spend the night here alone?"

When the first man realized he'd been discovered, he stopped hiding, walking out with a sneer. His gaze swept over Lu Yuan, then glanced at the rabbit bones remaining on the ground, his greed intensifying.

The second man followed closely, "Looking at your tender skin, you must be a student out for training from some school, right? Hand over all your cards and valuables, and we brothers might consider sparing your life."

The two men positioned themselves, one on the left and one on the right, subtly forming a pincer movement.

In their eyes, a young man whose aura was only at the peak of an eight-star Apprentice, all alone, was simply a fat piece of meat delivered to their mouths.

Buzz! Buzz!

Accompanied by Source Power fluctuations, two beams of light lit up.

In front of the first man, a sturdy dog with sharp fangs appeared, its fur grayish-black, exuding a fierce aura.

[Fanged Hound]

[Strength: Second-Tier]

[Quality: Green]

[Star Rating: Three-star]

[Type: beast taming card]

The other man summoned a colorful spider, its eight hairy long legs supporting it, its abdomen bulging high, and green saliva dripping from its mouthparts, clearly indicating it was highly venomous.

[Venomous Spider]

[Strength: Second-Tier]

[Quality: Green]

[Star Rating: Four-star]

[Type: beast taming card]

As soon as the two summoned beasts appeared, they glared menacingly at Lu Yuan, letting out low, threatening growls.

"Kid, don't refuse a toast to drink a forfeit!"

"Cooperate obediently, and you'll suffer less!"

"Damn, you really scared the hell out of me, I thought it was some big shot..."

Lu Yuan showed no panic on his face; instead, a strange, cold smile appeared.

Two Card Masters, each around Second-Tier Three-star, with one three-star and one four-star green beast taming card.

This level of strength, if it were in the past, might have made him wary.

But now... it's perfect; he could try out the newly acquired cards.

Lu Yuan's thoughts stirred.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz!

Six emerald green lights suddenly lit up in front of him!

Like six points of will-o'-the-wisp, dancing gracefully in the dark night!

"What is that?"

"Butterflies?"

Both men were stunned.

"No, they're Wind Spirit Butterflies!"

"How can there be so many! Not good, quickly hold your breath..."

Six palm-sized Wind Spirit Butterflies, their wings fluttering, moved with light grace.

They circled and danced around Lu Yuan, the delicate patterns on their wings emitting a faint glow in the darkness.

The next second.

Whoosh!

The six Wind Spirit Butterflies suddenly flapped their wings and darted towards the two rogue Card Masters and their summoned beasts!

Their speed wasn't fast, even a bit slow.

But with each flap of their wings, specks of phosphorescent powder, like stardust, silently sprinkled down.

The powder was colorless and odorless, blending into the night, making it difficult to detect.

"Damn it, Fanged Hound, Bite him to pieces!"

"Venomous Spider, spit silk!"

Woof!

The Fanged Hound let out a roar and lunged at Lu Yuan!

The Venomous Spider, meanwhile, retracted its abdomen, and a pale green silk shot out, also targeting Lu Yuan!

However, just before they were about to hit their target.

An unexpected change occurred!

That seemingly harmless phosphorescent powder finally took effect!

The Fanged Hound, which was charging at the front, suddenly stiffened, a hint of confusion flashing in its eyes, and its running steps instantly became unsteady, as if it were drunk.

The silk sprayed by the Venomous Spider also veered off course, hanging limply on a nearby branch. Its massive body swayed slightly, its eight eyes filled with bewilderment.

"What's going on?"

"My dog!"

The two men's expressions changed drastically!

They had also inhaled a lot of the phosphorescent powder, only feeling their vision starting to blur and overlap, their heads spinning, and their thoughts becoming sluggish.

Phosphorescent powder with weak paralyzing and hallucinogenic effects!

Although its effect on Second-Tier Card Masters was limited, with six Wind Spirit Butterflies spreading it simultaneously, a quantitative change led to a qualitative change!

A brief moment of confusion was enough!

"Now!"

A cold light flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes!

An extremely faint but superior aura of coercion spread out like ripples!

Time to apply the formula!

"Mantis!"

Whoosh!

A blurred black shadow, like a ghost, shot out from behind Lu Yuan!

Shadow Mantis!

Buzz! Buzz!

Two skill cards lit up simultaneously!

Sharpness Technique!

Bite!

The bone blades, covered in an energy glow, gleamed with a chilling light!

Its target was the confused Fanged Hound and Venomous Spider!

Pfft!

The bone blade, like cutting tofu, accurately pierced the Fanged Hound's relatively fragile abdomen, and the attack, imbued with the power of Bite, instantly erupted!

Ow!

The Fanged Hound let out a tragic howl, its body twitching as it fell to the ground, its card core instantly shattered! Its light dimmed, turning into specks of starlight and dissipating.

Having struck successfully, the Shadow Mantis didn't stop, its figure flickered, and it pounced again on the Venomous Spider, which was still swaying in place!

"No! My spider!"

The second man's eyes were splitting with rage; he wanted to stop it, but his body wouldn't obey, his movements incredibly slow.

Pfft!

The same location, the same precise attack!

The Venomous Spider didn't even have time to let out a cry before its massive body collapsed, following in the footsteps of the Fanged Hound.

In a flash of lightning, two green-quality summoned beasts were easily dealt with by the Shadow Mantis!

Zheng Shuai was right, there are no useless cards, only useless Card Masters!

And all of this was not over yet!

Just as the Shadow Mantis launched its attack.

Roar!

A low roar sounded from the shadows behind the short man!

Unbeknownst to them, the massive Swamp Crocodile had already lurked there!

Its gaping maw suddenly opened, bringing with it aBlood Wind, and bit at the first man!

"Ah—!"

He only had time to let out a scream before his vision was swallowed by endless darkness and excruciating pain!

Crack!

A teeth-grinding sound of bones shattering rang out!

The first man's head was directly bitten off by the Swamp Crocodile like a watermelon!

Red and white matter splattered!

A strong smell of blood instantly permeated the air.

"Bro... Brother!"

The second man was terrified to see his companion die tragically!

He didn't even think, turning to flee!

He didn't even care about his own Origin Card!

But, the Shadow Mantis was faster!

The bone blade, enhanced with Sharpness Technique and Bite, silently sliced across his neck from behind!

Puff!

A magnificent head flew into the sky!

The headless body stumbled for two steps, then fell heavily to the ground.

The battle ended.

From the appearance of the Wind Spirit Butterflies to the death of the two rogue Card Masters, the entire process took only a dozen seconds.

It was breathtakingly fast.

Looks cool, right? The cost is over forty points of Source Power consumption, with the Wind Spirit Butterflies being the main drain!

After the battle, the six Wind Spirit Butterflies stopped spreading phosphorescent powder and returned to their cards.

The card's light dimmed slightly, becoming a 99% new female-used... The Shadow Mantis shook off the blood from its bone blades and returned to the shadows.

The Swamp Crocodile slowly crawled to Lu Yuan's side and rubbed its big head against him.

Lu Yuan stood in place, looking at the two warm corpses on the ground and the scattered cards.

This was his first time... killing someone.

An indescribable feeling surged in his heart.

There was a slight discomfort, but more than that, there was a sense of relief... In this world where human lives are like weeds, if you don't kill, others will kill you.

To survive, to protect the people he cared about, he had to be ruthless!

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to vomit.

He walked forward and began to quickly clear the battlefield.

The two rogue Card Masters were clearly poor; they didn't have much cash on them.

The main harvest was the cards they dropped.

When a Card Master dies, unless there are special protective measures, their Origin Card will shatter directly.

Although shattered cards can be repaired, for those of lower levels and quality, the cost-effectiveness isn't high.

(If a Card Master actively removes their Origin Card, like Ah Hu, the card will not be affected, but the Card Master will suffer the backlash of the Heavenly Gift rules.)

Lu Yuan unhesitatingly crushed the four shattered Origin Cards on the ground, absorbing the scattered Source Power.

Then, he began to tally the spoils.

About ten gray-quality cards, mostly low-tier material cards or useless skill cards.

Five or six white-quality cards, one of which was the [Glimmer Detect] card from the first man's waist, a one-star green card with decent effects.

Two green-quality cards, besides [Glimmer Detect], there was also a three-star green card [Tough Skin], a passive skill card that could slightly increase the physical defense of summoned beasts.

In addition, there were dozens of blank cards, which was a considerable gain.

Lu Yuan rummaged through their backpacks again and found several first-tier and second-tier beast cores.

He absorbed all the Source Power from the beast cores.

Warm currents flowed into his body.

His Source Power, which had previously stagnated, began to grow again!

[Source Power: 41 / 87]

[Source Power: 41 / 88]

[Source Power: 41 / 89]

Just one last point!

Boom!

It was as if something exploded within his body!

A power far more immense and pure than before instantly filled his limbs and bones!

The previously solid bottleneck shattered with a sound!

Source Power surged like a breached dam!

[Ding!]

[Level Up! Current level: First-Tier Card Master Apprentice (Nine-star)!]

[Source Power: 41 / 91]

Nine-star!

He finally reached it!

Lu Yuan clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within him, his eyes shining brightly!

His Source Power limit directly increased by 4 points!

From 87 points, it jumped to 91 points!

This was the benefit of breaking through a major bottleneck!

He could clearly feel that his control over Source Power was much more proficient, and his mental strength also increased accordingly.

Now, he was more than a match for his peak eight-star self!

From seven-star to nine-star in a few days, his accumulated combat experience was also sufficient.

The Black Water Gang members were likely nearby.

This place was not safe for long.

He had to find a way to safely return to Jiang City as soon as possible!