92: Chapter 92 This is hell!

Su Bai's chest gave a sudden jolt.

Did I level up!?

Right, although many cards were mass-produced, the core circuits themselves were created by Su Bai, so the system directly judged them as cards made by Su Bai.

The number of people signing contracts with these cards was massive; even if only one percent of them had the aptitude, it was enough for Su Bai to complete the task directly!

This was great; there was no need to dawdle around anymore. As long as he sold cards, he could level up!

"So that's how it is... No wonder selling cards is so important for a Card Creator!"

Su Bai was incredibly shocked.

Of course, others had completely different reasons for selling cards; they did it for blessings, while his were purely for system tasks.

But it didn't matter!

Selling cards made him stronger, anyway!

His mana pool was expanding at a completely unreasonable speed—like someone pumping water into a balloon, the filling speed was at least three times faster than the balloon's limit.

Then, the mana stabilized because the system had directly etched new circuits inside his body.

[High-quality contractor bound—Chu Yin (Tier 7 Sword Cultivator · Magical Girl · Explosion Mage)]

[Highest-level Critical Refund triggered.]

[Perfect Inheritance: Tier 7 · Starry Sky Sword Intent. Source—Chu Yin's sword cultivation. Returned via causal chain Critical Refund; the host can use it without consumption. (However, this is limited to when transformed into a Magical Girl. Furthermore, the host's Mental Power is too low, so the duration will not be long. Use with caution.)]

[Perfect Inheritance: Explosion Magic · 200x normal authority (includes Wish Power). Source—Deck's fourth card. Returned via causal chain Critical Refund; the host can activate it at any time.]

[Note: 200x authority is a floating value of the design parameters. The original design was ten times, but the causal coupling coefficient locked the final multiplier at two hundred times. It has automatically taken effect.]

Holy crap!

Two hundred times!!

After seeing the Explosion Magic, Su Bai was completely stunned. If he remembered correctly, wasn't this thing supposed to be one hundred times?

Oh right, Chu Yin had made a wish... Did the wish strengthen the power of the Explosion Magic?

...Awesome!

An unexpected path.

And this Tier 7 strength...

This was even more interesting. Su Bai hadn't expected to accidentally exploit a bug and get such a huge surprise. It seemed that signing Chu Yin was indeed the right choice.

As for Mental Power, there was nothing he could do about it. In the world of Card Creators, Mental Power was exceptionally important. It was related to card creation and directly correlated with strength; lacking Mental Power was absolutely impossible. Even if Su Bai had the cultivation of a Tier 7 Sword Cultivator, if his Mental Power was too weak, he would still be crushed by a Tier 7.

But it didn't matter; either way, it was Tier 7 strength! He had essentially undergone a major power-up.

Su Bai looked down at his hands.

The soul gem on the back of his right hand was glowing. The purple halo was mixed with a trace of silvery-white sword intent. He gently clenched his fist, and a few tiny silvery-white arcs of electricity burst between his knuckles. That was the Starry Sky Sword Intent that Chu Yin had spent over a decade honing. Now, it flowed quietly through his meridians, as if it had always belonged there.

"...By the way, does this mean I've become a Sword Saint?"

[Strictly speaking, you have inherited the sword intent of a Tier 7 Sword Cultivator, but you are still some distance away from being a Sword Saint. However, within the same tier, you have no rivals in sword cultivation.]

Su Bai felt the depth of his mana pool again. It had doubled, at least doubled. And that 200x Explosion Magic authority—he recalled the pink beam of light in the sky today that had instantly vaporized the Bone Demon.

Hiss.

"Su Bai? What's wrong with you?" Zhao Dahai poked his head out from behind the checkout counter. "Your expression looks a bit off—did you... again—"

"Leveled up."

"."

"And I inherited the sword intent of a high-tier sword cultivator. Plus 200x Explosion Magic."

Zhao Dahai put down the POS machine. He took a deep breath. Then, in a tone that suggested his worldview had been crushed so many times that he had completely given up resisting, he said,

"Fine, very good, I'm used to it. You continue."

Lin Xiao didn't even look up. She just kept scrolling on her phone screen to process orders.

"Su Bai, can you pick a less busy time to level up? There are already over two hundred people in line."

Chairman Lin poked his head out from the side of the booth, the composed look of a businessman on his face shattered into pieces. He stared at Su Bai, his mouth opening, closing, then opening again. Finally, he squeezed out a sentence.

"Le—leveled up? At the exhibition site? Behind the checkout counter?"

"Pretty much."

"...You just said you inherited a high-tier sword cultivator's—"

"Starry Sky Sword Intent. Yes." Su Bai flicked his finger. A silvery-white sword light erupted from his fingertips, traced a circle above the booth, and then precisely pressed down the tip of Kyubey's raised tail.

Kyubey tilted its head.

[Su Bai, your control precision is still not enough.]

"Just got it. Making do with it."

Lin Weiwei, who was next to Chairman Lin, laughed out loud. She covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking.

"You made tens of millions from one Tier 1 card, sold hundreds of mass-produced cards in one livestream, had a 9th-tier Supreme help you repair the venue, and now you can even inherit sword intent while leveling up." She paused. "Next time you go out, will Rank 9 magic cores fall from the sky?"

"Don't talk nonsense, how expensive are Rank 9 magic cores." Chairman Lin immediately corrected her. Then his voice lowered— "Unless there really are..."

"Dad!!"

At this moment, a wisp of golden light condensed beside Su Bai. Li Qingyue had walked over at some point, her bare feet landing silently, which seemed to be related to her stepping on the air. She looked up at Su Bai (after changing back, Su Bai was a head taller than her), and for once, there was no coldness in those scarlet eyes.

"Tier 2."

"Yes."

"And you got the sword intent... But what the hell is this sword intent? Is it also related to Kyubey?"

"Yes, and I got lucky!"

A very faint arc curved at the corners of Li Qingyue's lips.

"It seems you can participate in the National Competition."

Su Bai blinked.

"National Competition? What is that?"

"It's very important for you. You'll know when the time comes."

After saying this, Li Qingyue stopped speaking. She crossed her arms and leaned against the side of the booth. The cold expression had returned to her small face—but Su Bai noticed a new sword mark on the universal balance card hidden in her sleeve. It was very fine, as if it had been scratched by something earlier at the Canglan Strait.

He didn't press for an answer.

"Master—what happened to your hand?"

"It's nothing." Li Qingyue pulled her sleeve down. "Take care of your own booth. I'm going to handle the aftermath in the surrounding area first."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan yawned nearby. The heels of her military boots clicked twice on the floor.

"The old hag is leaving first, I'll stay a while longer. Do you have any chairs behind this booth? I haven't sat down since coming out of nine days of seclusion."

Chairman Lin immediately dragged over a chair. The speed of his movement reminded Su Bai of the sword steps Lin Xiao had taken on the playground during the Monthly Exam.

"Deputy Commander Xiao, please sit! Tea or coffee?"

"Do you have alcohol?"

"...It's not very convenient at the exhibition."

"Then never mind."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan sat in the chair, crossed her legs, and scanned the hundreds of people queuing in front of the booth with her amber eyes, a meaningful arc appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"Little Su Bai. My order of ten thousand cards—when do you plan to schedule it?"

"After this batch is finished." Su Bai pointed to the box Lin Weiwei had just brought out. "The next batch will be supplied to the military first."

"Fine." Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan leaned back and closed her eyes. "I'll nap for a while, call me if anything happens."

Su Bai turned around—and then his foot stepped on something. It was soft.

He looked down.

Chu Yin was lying on the floor.

Her face was down, and her right hand was still holding the pose of gripping her staff. The ribbon was crooked, pushed up to her right ear.

"...Why are you still on the floor?"

"My mana is drained, I can't move." The voice was muffled, squeezing out from between the rubble.

"I dragged you here just now?"

"You ran off halfway through dragging me."

Su Bai thought about it, and it seemed that was indeed the case—he had let go when the system notification sounded.

"Sorry, I'll get you a stretcher."

He rummaged through his shield storage space and found some folding steel pipes and a tarp. Two minutes later, a crooked, makeshift stretcher appeared next to the booth. Lin Xiao helped roll Chu Yin onto it. She kept her eyes closed the entire time.

"Why are you closing your eyes?"

"I don't want to see this world anymore."

"We still have to go home in a bit."

"Isn't this place hell?"