71: Chapter 71: Appraisal, Plagiarism Card!

Right now.

Truth Sanctuary, seventh underground floor.

Special Appraisal Room.

The air was permanently permeated with the scent of air conditioner filters mixed with traces of ozone.

It was the byproduct of three "Ether-class" Mana Resonance Instruments, each costing more than the annual GDP of Jinghai City, operating at full power and forcibly stripping free mana particles from the air.

It wasn't exactly foul, but it certainly couldn't be called comfortable.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng remained seated in his wheelchair.

But his face, which had looked haggard for three whole years, was now glowing with a long-lost radiance.

It wasn't the fleeting glimmer of a dying ember, but a real fire reignited from the depths of his bones.

His gaze passed through the twenty-centimeter-thick explosion-proof spiritual energy glass in front of him.

In the center of the dust-free workbench.

A shimmering, gold-red card was quietly suspended in mid-air.

[Rank 8 SS-Class · Heavenly Sword Absolute Blade - Beast God Armament]

Just looking at that name, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's left hand, missing three fingers, uncontrollably tried to clench into a fist.

A transformation-type card, and a Rank 8 transformation at that, SS-Class!

To think such a card was just given away?

Whether it is real or fake, we shall witness it today!

Although the purpose of those mysterious white-robed Card Creators was unknown, it was certain that they were likely trying to use this opportunity to promote something.

But that didn't matter; for Sword Saint Lu Changsheng, being able to stand up was enough.

"I say, isn't the air conditioning in here turned up a bit too high?"

Breaking the silence in the room was a female voice that sounded mature yet carried a habitual three-part mockery.

Phantom Sovereign was wearing a wine-red high-fashion trench coat, her arms crossed over her chest.

This Rank 9 powerhouse, who held the title of "Phantom Sovereign," had an appearance as well-maintained as a movie star who had just turned thirty.

Her sharp gaze swept over the people in front of the control console; she had clearly lost the last shred of patience for this tedious waiting.

"If you feel cold, you might consider wearing some warm clothing appropriate for your actual age."

It was Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen who replied.

"Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen."

Phantom Sovereign's eye twitched.

"The drab, old-man clothes you wear have also been out of style for a long time."

"Old woman."

"Do you want to fight here?"

The two stared at each other for a full three seconds.

Mana sparks were faintly colliding in the air.

Then, with extreme tacit understanding, they both looked away.

Neither made the first move.

"You two Rank 9 Excellencies, I beg of you.

Can you please exercise some restraint today..."

Vice President Wu Molin, standing in the corner, let out a humble sigh.

This Vice President of the Jinghai Cardmaker Association was currently holding a handkerchief, futilely wiping the sweat constantly beading on his forehead.

There were too many irregularities in today's appraisal.

But facing the Sword Saint of Breaking Seas in the wheelchair, as well as the set of energy data jumping on the screen, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and invite every big shot in the Truth Sanctuary he could summon.

The door to the appraisal room was pushed open a crack.

A pair of fair, petite bare feet stepped silently onto the cold marble floor.

The dark blue standard-issue robe looked exceptionally oversized on the girl who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old.

Li Qingyue's silver-white long hair was draped loosely.

She did not walk into the crowd, but headed straight for the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the side of the room, stepped one foot onto the windowsill, and sat up there with extreme proficiency.

Her legs dangled in the air, swaying gently, while her fair fingers made a "tap, tap" sound on the windowsill.

Seeing Li Qingyue appear, Vice President Wu Molin's sweat-wiping motion froze instantly.

He didn't even dare to breathe.

"Her Excellency Qingyue."

Qi Yuan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, pulled his gaze away from the complex causality formulas on the screen, and said, "Are you also interested in this card?"

Li Qingyue's crimson eyes did not look at the screen, nor at the card.

She simply looked past everyone and cast a meaningful glance at Sword Saint Lu Changsheng in the wheelchair.

"...I'm just here to watch."

Her voice was cold and clear.

Like a pinch of snow blown off by the wind on a glacier under the aurora.

"Rank 8 SS-Class cards are not common on the market, let alone new ones, and this one clearly benchmarks against my disciple.

Heh, I'd like to see what exactly is going on here."

Vice President Wu Molin silently stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket, pretending to be invisible.

"Alright.

Let's get to business."

Qi Yuan repeatedly took off his glasses, wiped them with a lens cloth, and put them back on.

This was a small tic that only occurred when his academic obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up.

He tapped the keyboard a few times, enlarging the holographic projection to a size visible to the entire appraisal room.

Qi Yuan pushed up his glasses.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a full three seconds, as if confirming that what he was seeing wasn't an instrument malfunction.

"Everyone, please look here."

His voice was half a degree lower than usual; it wasn't calmness, but the forced suppression of something.

"This is not a traditional sword path circuit.

This is not a sword path circuit at all."

On the holographic screen, the gold-red mana waveform slowly unfolded.

Vice President Wu Molin was the first to frown—he was the Vice President, and he had seen no less than triple-digit numbers of SS-Class cards, but he had never seen this kind of waveform on any orthodox Armament Card before.

The transition between the wave crests and troughs was not a conventional linear transition, but an extremely complex rotating structure.

Seven independent mana phases were operating simultaneously, crossing, nesting, and interlocking with each other at a rhythm so precise it made one's scalp tingle.

Seven-Axis.

Spatial phase crossover.

Mana formed a closed-loop resonance within the folding nodes.

"Does this look familiar?"

Qi Yuan did not turn around.

"Familiar."

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen's hand, holding a pure titanium water cup, paused in mid-air.

He had seen this structure before.

A few days ago, in the live replay of the Monthly Exam, in a magic card made by a Rank 2 student.

But the processing of this card in front of him was more mature than Su Bai's; the rotation rhythm of the Seven-Axis was tuned to a near-perfect degree, and every corner of the phase nodes looked like it had been carved with a scalpel.

"It's not just the Spatial Circuit."

Qi Yuan tapped the keyboard, enlarging the bottom right corner of the diagram.

There was a small, hidden section of nested logic, mostly obscured by the gold-red light of the sword intent, but it still revealed its outline under the high-precision scan of the Ether-class Resonance Instrument.

"Causality anchoring.

A standard wish-cost contract framework.

It is completely homologous to the causality chain in Su Bai's Kyubey Card—but it has been simplified based on that."

"The 'wish' part has been cut off, leaving only the mandatory contract logic between 'cost' and 'return'."

Vice President Wu Molin's face began to turn pale.

This is plagiarism, blatant plagiarism!

"Mana conductivity, 94 percent.

Spatial stability rate, 91 percent.

Do you know what this means?"

Qi Yuan turned around and said in a tone like he was announcing experimental results, "This card, besides plagiarizing... ahem, borrowing the Spatial Circuit, also incorporates that Card Creator's own understanding."

"It is certain that the design logic of that Rank 1 Kyubey Card has been reverse-engineered."

"It's not just copying the surface; they have grasped the underlying principles, then performed targeted modifications and military-grade encapsulation."

The appraisal room was silent for a full three seconds.

For a top-tier faction, reverse-engineering a Rank 1 card is not difficult, and it is impossible for the other party to have seen Su Bai's magic card circuit from a televised broadcast; they definitely infiltrated the exam site on the day of the Monthly Exam and directly observed Su Bai's magic card circuit up close...

But that's not important; what's important is that these people acted too fast!

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen set the water cup on the control console.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone heard the harsh clatter of ceramic hitting metal.

"How long did they take?"

"From the end of Su Bai's Monthly Exam to today, less than ten days."

Qi Yuan took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with his cuff, his movements more than a beat slower than usual, "Ten days.

Reverse-engineering a Rank 1 Rainbow Card, mastering the Seven-Axis Circuit, reconstructing the causality framework, sealing it into a Rank 8 SS-Class transformation card, and even passing the Sanctuary's Ether-class resonance test."

"This is not something humans are doing.

This can only be something from the other side of the Abyss helping to deduce it."