4: Chapter 4 Playing with a Big Gun

It was Sun Po's first time coming to Yang Xinyue's home.

Yang Xinyue's home was a very large detached villa, and she lived there all alone.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, Sun Po felt a wave of grim aura wash over him.

The courtyard was very spacious, paved entirely with bluestone slabs.

There were no green plants for decoration, nor any rockeries for embellishment.

There were only rows of weapon racks, two meditation cushions, and a low table.

The weapon racks were fully stocked with sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, poleaxes, hooks, and forks.

However, on the low table were rows of wine jars.

Looking at this courtyard that resembled a martial arts training ground, Sun Po could only say,

"Hearing about it is not as good as seeing it for oneself."

Yang Xinyue, this beautiful head teacher, had a very high level of renown throughout the entire Gaoping No. 2 High School,

but it wasn't a reputation for beauty, but a notorious reputation for ferocity.

Preferring blades and spears over makeup and fine clothes, this was the reputation Yang Xinyue had fought for.

When she first arrived, various superiors attempted unspoken rules and colleagues confessed their feelings,

but later on, they were all beaten into docility one by one.

As for the students, they dared to act even less prickly toward Yang Xinyue.

On one hand, Yang Xinyue was very strong; on the other hand, she was very protective of her students.

Yang Xinyue tossed a set of keys to Sun Po:

"You can casually stay in any of the seven or eight rooms. It's getting late today, so rest first, and tomorrow your pre-exam intensive training will officially begin!"

...

The next day,

the morning light was faint, and the eastern horizon was just turning red.

Sun Po was awakened by a violent and urgent knocking on the door.

Sun Po rubbed his sleep-filled eyes, and as soon as he opened the door,

Yang Xinyue, dressed in a white martial arts uniform and holding a twelve-foot-long red-tasseled spear, was standing at the doorway,

a heroic and dashing, radiant beauty.

She pulled out a set meal of tofu pudding and fried dough sticks from behind her back and said,

"The plan for a day lies in the morning. If you want to achieve results, you can't be as lazy as usual. See you in the courtyard in twenty minutes."

After saying that, she turned her head and left.

Sun Po took the breakfast and looked at his watch,

"Sleep at three, wake up at five, King Yama praises me for a good physique. This month is going to be tough to endure!"

...

Twenty minutes later,

before Sun Po even reached the courtyard, he could already hear the sound of the wind being torn apart.

In the courtyard, Yang Xinyue was wielding the red-tasseled spear in her hand with fierce and roaring winds,

her spearmanship at times like a fierce tiger emerging from the forest, swift and robust,

and at times like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, agile and sinister.

Dancing it straight until the courtyard was filled with spear shadows.

Under the eaves, a tall monk wearing a gray cloth monk's robe sat on a meditation cushion.

The monk had a grayish-brown complexion, sharp facial lines, a straw rope tied around his waist, and iron Buddhist prayer beads hung around his neck,

drinking by himself, utterly content and carefree.

Sun Po had seen this monk before;

it was precisely him who had beaten the Dean of Students' purple nine-star [Wrongfully Deceased Scholar] to a wrongful death time and time again with stick after stick back then.

He was Yang Xinyue's main card, of purple six-star quality, and also a very precious [true name card].

The so-called [true name card] was a card that possessed an exact name in its card information, and this kind of card was unique.

The strength of such cards was generally much stronger than cards of the same level.

Even Sun Po's [Changyou] was not a [true name card].

However, as a rare [Desolate Beast Species], [Changyou]'s combat power likewise far exceeded the same level.

It was really hard to say whose combat power was greater between the two.

In the courtyard, Yang Xinyue saw Sun Po,

stopped her spear, and asked,

"What weapon do you use?"

Sun Po was a bit dazed. Weren't they supposed to train [Changyou]?

Why weren't they training the monkey and instead training him first?

As a high school student whose limbs were unaccustomed to labor, where would he have ever used any weapons? So he casually replied,

"Let's use a sword."

Just as his voice fell,

Yang Xinyue flicked her long spear toward the weapon rack, and with a crisp buzzing sound of "clang" in the air, a long sword flew straight over.

"Damn!"

Sun Po pulled a rolling-gourd maneuver, dodging in a flurry.

The slight sleepiness he had just felt was now completely gone.

When he raised his head again, Yang Xinyue's long spear was already pointing right at his heart.

"Sister Xinyue, I am a Card Maker, not a martial artist!"

Yang Xinyue's charming and alluring face was covered with a thick layer of frost at this moment.

"On the battlefield, you can only go tell that to my spear. Card Makers are also Card Duelists.

Since you're dueling, the enemies on the battlefield will not obediently wait for you to summon your card before making a move.

There are even methods specifically designed to bypass cards and deal with Card Makers.

At that time, no matter how strong your cards are, if the Card Maker himself is too weak, you will only suffer defeat or even lose your life."

After hearing this, Sun Po felt somewhat shaken inwardly.

"This world is far more complex than I imagined!

Bypassing cards to attack the Card Maker?

It seems it's not like a game where everything is fine once you summon a card.

The competition of a Card Maker's own physical qualities is also an important link.

If I want to gain a foothold in this treacherous world of Card Makers,

I must work harder myself."

Sun Po nodded, picked up the sword, and climbed back up:

"I've learned my lesson, Sister Xinyue."

Yang Xinyue wore an expression of approval, saying as she already rushed forward with her spear:

"Today you have no other tasks. If you can summon [Changyou] under my attacks, you pass."

"Alright!"

Thus, for the entire morning, Sun Po began striving to summon [Changyou] under Yang Xinyue's storm-like onslaught.

But what seemed like a simple matter of a thought actually still took about three seconds to communicate with the spiritual space,

and another two seconds to materialize the card.

Five seconds of time was enough for Yang Xinyue to poke a dozen transparent holes through Sun Po.

Therefore, after being knocked out dozens of times,

Sun Po found a method to cope:

That was to roll!

That's right, although rolling in this world had no invincibility frames,

he couldn't help but feel reassured when rolling, and that spiritual space communicated even faster.

After rolling for four hours, the tall monk drinking wine nearby couldn't help but speak up:

"You brat, you just need to accurately read the spear path to dodge it. What use is there in just rolling back and forth?"

"Mind your own business! I feel more at ease when I roll!"

...

After a whole morning of rolling,

Sun Po clearly felt that not only had his dodging ability become stronger,

but the speed of mobilizing the spiritual space was also getting faster and faster,

almost able to be done within 1.5 seconds.

From five seconds down to 1.5 seconds, this was undoubtedly a huge improvement.

Finally, as noon approached,

after Sun Po had rolled around all morning, he finally successfully summoned [Changyou] under Yang Xinyue's attack.

Whether it was because today was clear and sunny with a lack of surrounding water vapor, this time [Changyou]'s entrance was much more low-key.

But its dog-like nature of protecting its master hadn't changed.

Before Sun Po's eyes could even react,

a crystal-clear "water stick" had already blocked in front of the long spear.

Logically speaking, it should have been pierced right through, but this long stick made of rainwater firmly blocked the spear tip as if it were solid substance.

[Changyou]'s golden pupils burst wide open, and its fangs were exposed.

The water stick in its hand abruptly flicked upward, directly sending Yang Xinyue along with her spear flying up into mid-air.

It seemed Yang Xinyue herself hadn't expected this, letting out a cry of surprise:

"The strength of a [Desolate Beast Species] is indeed extraordinary!"

Just as [Changyou] leaped into the air, about to smash Yang Xinyue flat with a single strike of its stick,

Sun Po hurriedly commanded in his heart:

"Stop! [Changyou]!"

Reacting alongside Sun Po was also the tall monk drinking wine nearby.

The monk directly flung his wine flask to smash toward [Changyou].

At the same time, he sprinted toward the weapon rack, snatched up a wooden stick, and similarly leaped into the air from thin air, intending to block this blow for Yang Xinyue.

[Changyou] bared its teeth and brandished its claws, letting out a threatening hiss.

Hearing Sun Po's command, it was about to retract its strength, but didn't expect a bald donkey to thrust out from the side.

It simply shifted the momentum of its stick and smashed it toward the tall monk.

But the monk was no pushover either; in mid-air, he jammed the stick into the wine flask, intending to use it as a hammer-like weapon to smash toward [Changyou]'s monkey head.

[Changyou] was right at the moment when its old strength was exhausted and its new strength had not yet been born, and the water stick in its hand was indeed not as fast as the opponent's wooden stick.

But [Changyou] was truly worthy of being evaluated as a [Desolate Beast Species] that was "innately wise and of extraordinary comprehension";

it actually temporarily transformed the "rainwater long stick" in its hand into a water rope, manipulating the water rope to wrap around the wooden stick in the monk's hand.

At the same time, the wine droplets that had just spilled from the wine bottle were also quietly transformed by [Changyou] into several "water nails" shot toward the tall monk's back.

Seeing this, Yang Xinyue, who was falling, shouted in her heart:

"Yang Wulang, quickly pull back your hand!"

While fiercely throwing the long spear in her hand,

right in time to block all the "water nails".

"Snap!"

Along with the wine bottle landing and shattering on the bluestone slab, the two people and the one monkey all landed on the ground.

Yang Xinyue put away her long spear and said with a smile:

"Yang Wulang, your hands have gotten rusty!"

However, the tall monk let out a cold snort and cupped his fists toward Sun Po:

"I am Yang Wulang. Brat, this white ape of yours has not yet fully awakened its spiritual intelligence, yet it possesses such staff techniques. It is quite bizarre. Does it have a name?"

Sun Po patted the dirt off himself and replied:

"[Changyou]!"

...