156: Equipment card complete!

Lin Yu purchased dozens of portions of magic dust, then performed Card Transformation.

Soon, all the materials required for the [Apprentice Longsword] formula were ready.

Thirty kilograms of metal consumables piled up into a small mountain of metal ingots.

Lin Yu sat cross-legged amidst the materials, took a deep breath, and officially began his first Card Creation in five years.

Card Creation LV1 activated!

He stretched out his hand, and his mental power transformed into an invisible large hand, precisely grasping three hundred portions of [Standard Metal Consumables], five portions of [Standard Wood Consumables], two portions of [Standard Leather Consumables], and one portion of [Basic Magic Dust].

All the materials, under his control, slowly floated in mid-air.

Following the guidance of the formula, Lin Yu began to guide these materials to merge.

The magic dust ignited first, turning into a light blue flame that enveloped all the materials.

The metal melted in the flame, and the wood and leather also began to soften and deform.

This was an extremely delicate process, requiring a very high degree of control over mental power.

The output of mental power had to be like a stable straight line, without the slightest fluctuation.

Too much, the materials would directly burn up.

Too little, and the materials would not fuse perfectly.

Lin Yu held his breath, immersing his entire mind in it.

He could feel that different materials, under the guidance of his mental power, were beginning to reconstruct and combine according to some mysterious rules.

It was about to take shape.

Pop.

A soft sound.

Like a soap bubble being popped.

The substance in mid-air that was about to take shape suddenly trembled, then instantly lost all its luster, turning into a pile of black powder that rustled to the ground.

It failed.

Lin Yu looked at the pile of waste on the ground and was not surprised.

With a ten percent success rate, expecting to succeed on the first try would be a pipe dream.

He wasn't discouraged; he waved his hand, sweeping the waste aside with his mental power.

Again.

He grabbed an equal amount of materials again and began his second attempt.

This time, he was even more careful, and his control of mental power was even more precise.

The light blue flame ignited again.

Materials melted, merged... everything went smoother than the last time.

He watched as the prototype of a longsword slowly condensed in the flames.

The blade, the hilt, the guard... just one last step.

Pop.

That grating soft sound again.

The flames extinguished, and the sword embryo in mid-air once again turned into a pile of dust on the ground.

It failed again.

Lin Yu stopped his movements and did not immediately start a third time.

He sat in place, carefully relishing the feeling of the two previous failures.

Where was the problem?

Mental power control? His mental power was already as high as 500 points; the control precision was absolutely top-notch.

Material issues? The materials replicated infinitely were of perfect purity.

Skill level? Card Creation LV1 was indeed too low.

Perhaps, it was a matter of proficiency.

Like a chef who has just received a recipe, even with the best ingredients and utensils, it's impossible to make a perfect dish on the first try.

Practice is needed.

And he had unlimited opportunities to practice.

Having understood this, Lin Yu's mindset completely relaxed.

The third attempt began.

He still took the same amount of materials, but this time, his mind was no longer tense.

Without that obsession to succeed, there was instead a hint of casualness.

The output of mental power was no longer a stiff, deliberately maintained straight line, but rather like breathing, with a natural rhythm.

The flames burned, the materials merged.

This time, the process was incredibly smooth.

When all the materials had perfectly fused into one, the light blue flame suddenly contracted inward, condensing into a single point of light.

The point of light dissipated.

A card, entirely greyish-white, quietly floated before Lin Yu.

In the center of the card, a simple, unadorned longsword was drawn.

[Card: Apprentice Longsword]

[Quality: White · Common]

[Type: Equipment Card]

[Effect: Summon an Apprentice Longsword. Equipping it grants a slight strength boost.]

[Note: The best companion for novice adventurers. At least it's better than a wooden stick.]

It succeeded!

A smile finally appeared on Lin Yu's face.

He reached out and held the card in his hand.

The next second, he activated the card's effect.

"Summon."

The card in his hand turned into a white light and dissipated into the air.

Immediately after, a real longsword appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The blade was ordinary refined steel, polished relatively smoothly. The hilt was made of wood, wrapped in rough leather for grip.

There were no fancy decorations, nor any magical fluctuations.

It was just an ordinary, even somewhat crude, longsword.

But Lin Yu, holding it, felt as if he held the future of an entire world.

He immediately calmed his mind and checked the card slots in his mind.

Twenty-three.

This number remained unchanged.

After use, the [Apprentice Longsword] card had completely fulfilled its mission; the summoned longsword was a physical entity completely independent of the card system!

It would not occupy any precious card slots!

This path was viable!

Immense joy instantly filled his chest.

The 'card slot limit' shackles that had troubled him for so long, hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles, had finally been circumvented by him in a rather brutal manner!

Lin Yu held the novice longsword in his hand, but his gaze seemed to penetrate the walls, seeing a more distant future.

White-quality equipment was just the beginning.

What about... blue quality? Purple epic?

Or even... mythical-grade sets, piled up with infinite top-tier materials?

He looked at the unremarkable iron sword in his hand, but his mind had already begun to frantically construct blueprints for sets of equipment that could shock the world.

Also... an equipment card he created, if used by himself, should also count as a used card, right?

Card Transformation works... there's no reason Card Creation shouldn't.

Lin Yu's thoughts reached a boiling point at this moment.

Almost instinctively, he incorporated this freshly made [Apprentice Longsword] card into the Ghost Card's replication system.

Ghost Card activated.

Multiplication Card stacked.

One million forty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-six times!

It succeeded!

If he wanted to.

He could now instantly replicate over a million [Apprentice Longswords].

Then... a million longswords would, like a breaching torrent of steel, fill this room in one second, collapse the walls, and drown everything.

What's a myriad swords returning to the origin!

I'll just hit you in the face with a million swords!

Not convinced?

Not convinced? Here's another million swords! I'll beat you to death!

Calm down.

Lin Yu forced himself to pull away from that world-destroying fantasy.

A million [Apprentice Longswords] sounded impressive.

But in the end, they were just common iron.

If it were truly a divine weapon, it would probably still be subject to restrictions.

Nevertheless, this was a huge step forward!

Equipment cards have been tested; next up... Companion Cards!