158: First Follower Card

Adding to that the need to purchase and copy Bat Wing Specimens and Canine Tooth Specimens, along with primary magic dust, the material cost for a single Card Creation easily exceeds 15,000.

Considering the pitiful 8% success rate, theoretically, the expected cost to successfully create one Vampire Bat card approaches 200,000.

This is even more of a pit than equipment cards; Follower Cards are very easy to die.

200,000 just to make a basic white Follower Card.

The Card Creator profession truly isn't something ordinary people can afford to burn money on.

Lin Yu's thoughts wandered for a moment, then he reined them in.

For him, these numbers were meaningless.

He looked at the mountain of materials piled in the room and began the formal creation process.

Card Making LV1 activated!

His mental power enveloped ten portions of flesh and blood materials, one Bat Wing Specimen, two Canine Tooth Specimens, and one portion of primary magic dust.

Pale blue flames ignited.

This time, what the flames enveloped were organic materials with a breath of life.

The fusion process was more complex than when making the apprentice longsword, and the demands on mental control were also higher.

Flesh and blood wriggled, bat wings unfurled, canine teeth grew... Pop.

The first attempt failed at the moment it was about to take shape.

A pile of charred residue on the ground.

Lin Yu's face was expressionless as he waved his hand to clear away the waste and began the second attempt.

Pop.

Failure.

The third time.

Failure... He failed twelve times in a row.

Until the thirteenth attempt.

The moment all materials perfectly fused in the blue flame, the wriggling mass of flesh suddenly contracted, transforming into a beating heart.

The heart pulsed once, and all light and matter instantly collapsed inwards.

A grayish-white card with faint blood-red edges floated in mid-air.

In the center of the card, a black bat with folded wings, hanging upside down, was depicted.

Card: Vampire Bat

Quality: White · Common

Type: Follower Card

Attributes: Health 10, Attack 2

Traits: Flight, Lifesteal, Nocturnal

Note: Too much noise will wake it up.

It succeeded.

Lin Yu reached out and grasped the card.

"Summon."

The card transformed into a streak of blood-red light and dissipated.

The next second, a palm-sized, completely black bat appeared out of thin air.

It flapped its wings, circled the room once, then lightly landed on Lin Yu's shoulder, curiously examining him with a pair of red eyes.

This was a completely independent life form.

Lin Yu immediately checked his card slots.

Twenty-three.

The number hadn't changed!

Follower Cards, like equipment cards, summoned entities that also didn't occupy card slots!

This path also worked!

Lin Yu suppressed the excitement in his heart and began a deeper test.

He tried to apply a basic buff to the little guy on his shoulder—Vitality Nourishment, which had been copied and multiplied by the Ghost Card system.

However, the moment the light containing vast life energy touched the Vampire Bat, it dissipated instantly like a drop of water in hot oil, producing no effect whatsoever.

Lin Yu tried several other basic buff and debuff effects.

Without exception, all failed.

The little bat on his shoulder seemed completely immune to these conventional skill effects.

A new understanding emerged in Lin Yu's mind.

Followers.

These creatures summoned through cards seemed to be a special kind of creation.

They only possessed the most basic panel attributes of Health and Attack; everything else belonged to their inherent Traits.

Most crucially, they were unaffected by conventional buffs and debuffs.

To strengthen them, or to weaken enemy followers, one could only use a special type of card—effect cards.

Moreover, these were effect cards specifically for the "Follower" unit type.

For example, Follower Enhancement: Bloodlust.

Or, Follower Debuff: Intimidation.

Lin Yu's thoughts instantly became clear.

To build a powerful follower army, followers alone were not enough; corresponding follower-specific effect cards must also be equipped.

So, where do the formulas for these effect cards come from?

Lin Yu once again delved into the black market's database.

He entered various keywords.

Follower Enhancement, Formula

Area Buff, Formula

Follower Aura, Formula

The search results were blank.

Not a single result.

This wasn't normal.

The black market's database claimed to be all-encompassing; even without specific formula content, there should at least be related entries and acquisition methods.

Unless... the value of such formulas was so high that even the black market couldn't touch them, or they were completely monopolized by some colossal entity.

Those ancient families known for cultivating powerful summoned creatures? Or top guilds specializing in the follower genre?

In any case, this path was blocked from the outside.

Lin Yu leaned back in his chair, watching the little bat on his shoulder preen its wings.

Ugly but cute.

Before him, it seemed he was back to the initial two paths.

Either rely on Card Innovation to gamble on that elusive luck.

Or... Lin Yu's gaze slowly shifted, falling upon the two cards he had personally created on the table.

apprentice longsword.

Vampire Bat.

He carefully examined the composition of these two cards, their respective Card Creation formulas appearing in his mind.

Main Material: Standard Metal Material x300

Auxiliary Materials: Standard Wooden Material x5, Standard Leather Material x2

Catalyst: primary magic dust x1

...Main Material: Standard Flesh Material x10

Auxiliary Materials: Bat Wing Specimen x1, Canine Tooth Specimen x2

Catalyst: primary magic dust x1

Different materials, different ratios, ultimately formed two completely different cards.

Within this, there seemed to be some underlying logic.

A logic of... creation.

A crazy thought, without warning, sprouted from the bottom of his heart and became unstoppable.

Since he couldn't find the formula.

Then he would create the formula himself.

Others needed hundreds or thousands of experiments, spending astronomical sums of money and time, to grope for the single correct answer.

But he had unlimited materials, unlimited chances for trial and error.

He could treat the entire Card Creation process as a cost-free game.

Lin Yu leaned slightly forward, reaching out to take another piece from the mountain of Green Basic Materials.

His mental power, like the most precise surgical scalpels, began a completely new, unprecedented deconstruction and reorganization of this material.

If he was to create, he had to start from the most fundamental matter.

He wanted to personally deduce what was needed for the birth of a Follower Enhancement card.

If he succeeded, he might be able to circumvent existing rules... and create truly customized, brand-new cards!