76: Chapter 76: Inspiration for the Deck

By the time Su Bai returned to the card-making room, the image of Chu Yin's tear-streaked smiling face still lingered in his mind.

Kyubey jumped off his shoulder, landed on the card-making table, and wrapped its tail around to the front.

"Su Bai, your heart rate has returned to normal. That swordswoman just now—"

"Shut up."

"Understood."

Su Bai sat down in the card-making chair and slapped the Star Card Chu Yin had given him onto the table. The number on that card was enough for him to buy an entire production line of materials. The problem was, having money didn't mean he could make a Rank 7 card.

He was only level 19.

A Card Creator who hadn't even reached Rank 2 wanted to make a dedicated magical girl card for a Rank 7 swordsman.

The gap between them was roughly equivalent to trying to mold a Gundam out of Play-Doh.

"System, is there any way for me to make cards above my rank?"

"Negative. A Rank 7 card requires the Mental Power capacity of at least a Rank 7 Card Creator. Forcing the creation will lead to circuit collapse and permanent damage to the host's Mental Power."

Su Bai leaned back in his chair.

In other words, he either had to ask Li Qingyue for help or let Chu Yin accept a Rank 1 card. If he asked Li Qingyue, the Card Creator would be his master, and Critical Refund wouldn't trigger. If he let Chu Yin use a Rank 1 card, even if Rank 7 magic power was poured into it and the card could unleash power, it would ultimately be very weak.

Of course, it wasn't completely ineffective. Kyubey itself was a Rank 1 Rainbow Card; it could even influence Li Qingyue's avatar, let alone Chu Yin. The problem lay in the dilution of its abilities. If Kyubey's boost to a Rank 1 person was 1000%, then the boost to a Rank 7 or 8 person would be around 50%. This wasn't an exaggerated figure; normal Rank B cards of the same rank could achieve that.

If he just gave Chu Yin a Rank 1 card like this, even if it were a Rainbow Card, it would only be equivalent to her obtaining a Rank B/C Rank 7 card. That wasn't a good result for Su Bai.

Both paths were dead ends.

Kyubey tilted its head.

"Why don't you ask your master?"

"Ask her what?"

"Ask her if she has a way. She is a 9th-tier Supreme."

Su Bai paused for a moment. That made sense!

He then pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Penguin, private chat.

[Su Bai]: "Master, I have a question."

[Li Qingyue]: "Speak."

[Su Bai]: "I want to make a dedicated magical girl card for a Rank 7 sword cultivator. But I'm only Rank 2. Is there any way for me to make cards above my rank?"

The reply from the other side came after about ten seconds.

[Li Qingyue]: "Yes. Reach Rank 7."

[Su Bai]: "…Master, are you telling a cold joke?"

[Li Qingyue]: "No."

[Li Qingyue]: "Equivalent exchange is a constraint at the law level. Rank 2 Mental Power is Rank 2 Mental Power. No matter how well you draw your Spatial Circuit, the capacity limit is right there. If you want Rank 7 magic power to run stably within a card circuit, you must have the Mental Power of a Rank 7 Card Creator to support it. There are no shortcuts."

Su Bai stared at this line of text for several seconds.

"In other words, there really is no way."

[Li Qingyue]: "If you need it, I can make an exception and help you make a Rank 7 dedicated card. I've seen the file of that child named Chu Yin. A direct disciple of the Sword Saint of Breaking Seas, her aptitude is not bad. I'll cover the material costs and labor time to make her a Rank 7 magical girl card."

[Su Bai]: "I see… Wait, how did you know it was Chu Yin?"

[Li Qingyue]: "I placed monitoring on you. It automatically wakes up when an expert approaches you, so you won't be attacked again."

[Su Bai]: "Eh? Then when I go to the bathroom, wouldn't I…"

[Li Qingyue]: "I won't watch! In any case, it's fine if you want me to help; it's also good for your publicity. But we can't promise to refine Rank 1-9 cards at will like the Beast God Armament; that's not realistic."

Su Bai's fingers hovered over the screen.

His master offering to help on her own—for anyone else, this would be the kind of luck that makes their ancestors' graves smoke with incense. A peak Rank 9, a fusion of three laws; fewer than five people in the whole world had this treatment.

But he refused.

[Su Bai]: "No need, Master. I want to do it myself."

[Li Qingyue]: "Reason?"

[Su Bai]: "I have to contract my own Magical Girl!"

The other side paused for a few seconds again.

[Li Qingyue]: "?"

[Su Bai]: "Ahem, anyway, I want to try."

[Li Qingyue]: "Very well. Come find me if it really doesn't work out."

Su Bai put the phone down.

It was completely dark outside the window. The lights of the card-making room cast long shadows on the walls. Kyubey sat on the table, its red eyes watching him without blinking.

"Su Bai, what are you thinking about?"

"Thinking about how to exploit a loophole in the laws."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"…Not yet."

Su Bai picked up the Star Card Chu Yin had given him and flipped it between his fingertips twice. The number on the card flickered, as if reminding him that this money hadn't been spent yet.

Message notifications from the Three-Person Card-Making Mutual Aid Group started popping up.

[Zhao Dahai]: "@Su Bai What happened to that swordswoman later? Did you make a card for her? Did she cry again? Where is she now?"

[Lin Xiao]: "Fatty, you asked too many questions in one breath."

[Zhao Dahai]: "I'm concerned about a comrade-in-arms! Although she scolded us online for several days, at the end of the day, she just wants to become a Magical Girl! We must unite with our own kind like this!"

[Su Bai]: "The card hasn't been made yet."

[Zhao Dahai]: "? Why? Do you think the money isn't enough?"

[Su Bai]: "I am Rank 2. She is Rank 7. I cannot make a Rank 7 card."

The group chat was silent for about five seconds.

[Zhao Dahai]: "Then isn't it fine to just make a Rank 1 card? Isn't that Kyubey Card of yours Rank 1? SSS-Rank, that should be enough."

[Lin Xiao]: "It's not enough. The Kyubey Card is a core card; it doesn't provide combat power boosts itself. Combat power comes from the exclusive magic after the Magical Girl transformation. The upper limit of the exclusive magic is restricted by the rank of the contract card. If Su Bai uses a Rank 1 card to sign a contract with Chu Yin, her magic power output after transformation won't be enough. For a Rank 7 sword cultivator, a magic power boost of less than 300% is no different from being useless."

[Zhao Dahai]: "No, 300% is too exaggerated; even Rank 7 S-cards can barely handle that, right? Besides, if you don't make it, what else can you do? You can't really wait for Su Bai to reach Rank 7, right? He's not even level 20 yet. By the time he reaches level 70, Chu Yin's apprentices could already be out running errands."

[Su Bai]: "I'm thinking."

[Lin Xiao]: "Thinking about what?"

Su Bai didn't reply immediately.

He was looking at Kyubey. That white ragdoll cat sat quietly on the card-making table, its tail swaying slowly from side to side. The lights of the card-making room were reflected in its glass-like eyes.

Su Bai suddenly thought of something.

The Kyubey Card was a Rank 1 card.

Li Qingyue's Rank 8 avatar was also contracted using a Rank 1 Kyubey. Although the insufficient rank led to limited combat power boosts, the Magical Girl transformation itself was successfully triggered. The core of the contract was the Law of Causality, not magic power. The Law of Causality was not determined by rank; it relied on the concept itself.

In other words.

The contract card could be Rank 1.

Let Chu Yin sign the contract using a Rank 1 Kyubey, and she could transform into a Magical Girl. It was just that the combat performance after transformation would be restricted by the Rank 1 framework. But what if—

What if there were more than one card?

Su Bai straightened up in his chair.

Kyubey was the core card.

In the Magical Girl system, the core card was responsible for contracting and transformation. But what weapons to use after transformation, what magic to cast, what ultimate moves to unleash—these could be separated. Separated into independent cards. Each one would be Rank 1. Each one would only be responsible for one thing. Then, they could be linked together in the form of a deck.

That's right, this is a deck! Or rather, a card set!

Chairman Lin had explained it to him before, but Chairman Lin hadn't gone into depth; he even planned to outsource the other cards of the deck to other Card Creators, but Su Bai had suddenly realized the truth.

That wasn't it; a deck and a core card set were complementary. When combined, they could unleash terrifying power!