6: Chapter 6 Card Making Material Market

[Yang Wulang] was charred crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, pitch-black all over, with only his teeth showing white.

Opening his mouth, a few smoke rings drifted out.

Then, with a thud, he fell flat on his back, transforming into a stream of purple light that flew back into Yang Xinyue's body.

...

At this moment, Yang Xinyue was left in sheer awe.

"'Insight into Heavenly Secrets' predicts changes in heaven and earth, but I never expected it to predict things to this extent...

Is even the exact time and landing point of the lightning calculated?"

Sun Po was also somewhat surprised.

However, [Changyou] was also severely injured at this point, so Sun Po quickly turned him into a card and recalled him to his spirituality space to recuperate.

Suddenly, an electronic voice rang out:

"[Changyou] has loaded MOD—[Wulang Eight Trigrams Staff] (Beginner). Obtained 1 system EXP point! Currently remaining: 95 points."

At this moment, Sun Po just wanted to exclaim, "This monkey is terrifying!"

To master the [Wulang Eight Trigrams Staff] in just one afternoon, his comprehension truly was extraordinary.

In the end, he even used [Insight into Heavenly Secrets] to ascertain the strike zone and timing of the lightning, deliberately showing a weakness to guide the opponent into acting as a "lightning rod."

Thereby delivering a decisive fatal blow to a [true name card] that surpassed him in quality.

Although luck played a part, the combat intelligence demonstrated was pleasantly surprising.

Moreover, for [Changyou] to comprehend martial arts counted as loading a MOD, which could actually add MOD system EXP!

Looking at [Changyou] resting with his eyes closed inside the spirituality space, Sun Po formed a wicked plan in his mind.

...

The next morning, as dusk was barely breaking, Sun Po had already gotten out of bed.

[Changyou]'s recovery in the spirituality space required his energy, added to how exhausted he already was yesterday.

Sun Po felt quite fatigued at the moment.

He and [Changyou] had been beaten brutally yesterday, but he felt that the gains were immense.

Setting aside his improved reaction time and card summoning speed,

the most important thing was that [Changyou] had gained the [Wulang Eight Trigrams Staff] MOD.

From now on, he wouldn't be flailing around recklessly anymore.

"I just wonder where I can collect traditional martial arts from my past life?

With [Changyou]'s level of comprehension, I can't let this monkey's talent go to waste."

The more Sun Po thought about it, the more sense it made.

No matter how poor, don't skimp on education!! No matter how tough, don't mistreat the monkey!!

In the future, I'll have Changyou learn more traditional martial arts. Every skill learned adds a MOD, which also adds MOD system EXP.

If he can't learn it, we just act like nothing happened—no risk of failure. Isn't this an extraordinarily lucrative deal?

Just as Sun Po was pondering the major issue of his monkey's education, a familiar breakfast bag poked through the doorway.

"Morning!"

Today, Yang Xinyue had changed into an oversized women's T-shirt paired with hot pants, looking full of youthful vitality.

"Morning, Sister Xinyue."

Yang Xinyue sized Sun Po up and down, unable to hold back a snort of laughter.

Confused, Sun Po looked down, only to realize he was dressed practically like a beggar.

Right, he rolled around so hard yesterday; it was already a miracle he wasn't completely bare-butt today.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sun Po listened as Yang Xinyue finished laughing and said:

"Your clothes and daily necessities were loaded into the car that night and haven't been unloaded yet. Go grab them. We're not training today.

Both [Wulang] and [Changyou] need to rest.

Today, we're going to the Card Making Material Market so you can quit your odd job, and while we're at it, pick out materials for your second card."

Hearing this, Sun Po hesitated a bit.

"Quit? But working there makes it really convenient for me to find card making materials."

Yang Xinyue pulled out a compact mirror and said while applying lipstick:

"Those places basically only have low-level grey and white materials.

Getting that skeleton you bought was purely a stroke of dumb luck.

If you really want to find good card making materials,

you either go to auctions held by prominent families, or gather a team to go into secret realms yourself."

Sun Po knew Yang Xinyue was speaking the truth, but he still didn't really want to quit and planned to just request time off instead.

He went to change clothes and packed his stuff, and then the two set off.

...

Gaoping City Card Making Material Market

"Red fish scales! Fresh scales brought straight out of the secret realm! Essential materials for crafting the [Spirit Monkey] card! First come, first served!"

"First-night blood of a Ghost Bride! Precious material for crafting the [Wrongfully Deceased Scholar], genuine goods, feel free to inspect!"

"You two, take a look at the fresh goods straight out of [Blackwater Ghost Temple]..."

This was a massive open market resembling a traditional produce market.

Storefronts and stalls were lined up on both sides, with hawking, bargaining, and noisy clamor echoing continuously in a bustling crowd.

Stalls were generally set up by wild Card Makers who paid rent to sell materials they acquired from secret realms.

The storefronts, on the other hand, helped Card Makers sell materials to earn consignment fees. Sun Po's odd job was working as a clerk in one such store.

Returning to this familiar place, Sun Po recalled his days of terrible luck while listening to the hawking, deadpanning:

"Sister Xinyue, I've always been curious. How are these card making materials so completely unrelated to the finished cards?

Take the card crafting sequence for the [Spirit Monkey], for instance:

Golden Pine Needles 45.5g, 11 red fish scales, several Black God Petals, a pair of Bone-Devouring Vulture eyeballs...

I just can't fathom how these things come together to create a monkey?"

Yang Xinyue glanced around here and there as she browsed, replying:

"Who knows? If card crafting sequences were that easy to crack, those prominent families would have collapsed long ago, and research experiments on card crafting sequences wouldn't be causing deaths every single day."

"True enough."

While talking, the two arrived at the small shop where Sun Po worked his odd job.

The shop was not big, consisting of just a few ordinary shelves and a glass counter.

As soon as Sun Po walked in, someone came forward to greet him.

"Yo, Little Sun is here! Is this your girlfriend?"

The shopkeeper, Old Wang, was a middle-aged man in his nineties who wiggled his eyebrows and gave a thumbs-up.

Old Wang was a good guy and took good care of Sun Po.

Of course, this was also related to how Sun Po frequently patronized Old Wang's business as well.

Making two or three thousand a month in wages, but spending tens or hundreds of thousands in big orders whenever he purchased items—

it was basically a case of a customer cosplaying as a shop clerk.

Sun Po smiled and said:

"She's my teacher. She brought me to buy a set of card making materials for [Warrior]. Also, I need to request some time off because the Gaokao is coming up."

Yang Xinyue casually browsed the items in the shop, unbothered.

Old Wang rummaged around for a while before pulling out an exquisite box, chuckling as he said:

"Here, the material pack for the [Warrior] card. No problem about taking leave, Gaokao is what matters most."

Sun Po stowed the material pack, thanked him, and asked:

"Uncle Wang, do you have any rare new materials? Especially book-type ones, I'd like to take a look."

He was still keeping his monkey's education in mind, hoping to hunt down some useful materials to make into MODs.

"Book-type new materials? That stuff is super niche. Let me rummage through for you."

After a long while, Old Wang came in holding a large box of books, blew off the dust on top, and said:

"Everything in the shop is right here, take a look.

Book-type materials have a lower content of spiritual substance compared to same-grade materials.

If you want a lot, I'll give you a bundle price."

Old Wang was telling the truth. In this world, the most expensive materials were naturally those with verified card crafting sequences.

Even if it was only white grade, its price could rival that of sequence-less purple grade materials, because every set of such materials represented a completed card.

Next came card making materials with high spiritual reaction, because high spiritual reaction meant the material's properties were more active.

In universities, there were specialized laboratories to study the spiritual traits and microscopic structures of materials.

The least popular were materials with low spiritual reaction, represented notably by books.

Due to historical gaps, most books suffered from difficulties in translation.

Generally, valuable items of this sort were stored away in book pavilions by prominent families.

Most of those circulating on the market were essentially useless.

But Sun Po felt that this was precisely his golden opportunity to rise.

...