On the horizon, the morning sun climbed higher and higher. Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the balcony's wooden railing, falling over Lanqi and stretching his shadow long.
On the balcony stood a comfortable rattan chair, beside which lay a half-read book on a glass coffee table. A breeze fragrant with blossoms drifted past, caressing Lanqi's cheeks as if trying to whisk away his drowsiness.
"Lanqi, it's time for the card maker exam. Stop obsessing over your animal friends."
Watering can in hand, the Poet of Great Love glanced at the clock in the living room, then looked at Lanqi, who was still squatting leisurely on the ground feeding the birds beside her, and couldn't resist giving his back two kicks.
"I know, I know. It's still early; I won't be late."
Lanqi rubbed his sleepy eyes.
Although he often summoned the Poet of Great Love and had grown quite familiar with her, her attitude toward him was becoming increasingly casual.
At times, he could hardly tell she was a girl at all; in truth, her mannerisms and behavior were entirely boyish.
"Go on, Lanqi! Show the folks of the royal capital your sealing arts! There's no reason the poster child for sealing arts has to be the Cardinal of Extinction!"
The Poet of Great Love grinned under the morning sun.
"Indeed. Sealing arts should be warm and sunny, definitely not some gloomy magic like Askesan's."
Lanqi smiled in relief, stood up, and stretched with all his might.
Soon, the Poet of Great Love unsummoned herself, and Lanqi readied himself to set out.
Emerging into the early morning light outside the School of Sages dormitory, Lanqi wore a faint smile as he strolled leisurely along the campus paths.
With a calm expression, bathed in the pale golden morning sunlight, he exuded an increasingly sunny demeanor.
Today was the day of the registered card maker exam, and since it was the weekend, there were no classes or student council activities.
A month had passed in the blink of an eye, filled with unremarkable daily routines.
Aside from heading to the student council to smoothly resolve minor campus disputes, Lanqi spent most of his time visiting Talia or crafting cards in his dorm.
Although he still lacked absolute confidence about passing the exam, after training under Talia's demon-style teaching methods and finding—then rigorously practicing—the type of magic he was most compatible with, Lanqi believed he was far stronger than back when he was only skilled at crafting mental-type magic cards.
Early this morning, he had gotten up to head to the royal capital Ikerite branch of the Card Makers Association for the registration exam.
The higher the rank of registered card maker one attained, the greater the discounts one enjoyed when purchasing common and rare materials from the Card Makers Association.
Materials could even be dispatched and shipped from other countries across the Southern Continent.
In addition, transaction fees for selling cards and taking on designated commissions would be significantly lower.
Furthermore, the Card Makers Association was an excellent place to seek high-rarity materials.
If one traded as a merchant like Lanqi had previously, certain high-grade materials could only be sold to the association and not purchased from it.
The association had always been dedicated to cracking down hard on scalpers and their accomplices.
Not far from the School of Sages dormitory building, Lanqi spotted Hyperion sitting quietly and waiting for him on a circular wooden bench beneath a large tree.
"Good morning, Hyperion!"
Lanqi called out with a wave.
Hyperion quickly noticed him and turned her head.
"Mm, good morning."
Having met at their agreed-upon spot, the two set off toward the Card Makers Association.
Hyperion had agreed long beforehand to accompany Lanqi to the Card Makers Association today.
She was one of the few in the school who knew Lanqi was a card maker, and she had long wanted to watch his card-making process.
Leaving the school grounds behind,
they strolled through the tranquil morning streets, along the flagstone road beside the Ikerite Grand Theater, and crossed the canal via a stone bridge. Below, the waters of the Yala Moat sparkled with rippling gold under the morning light.
"Lanqi, do you know that you've become quite famous in the royal capital lately?"
As always, the two chatted as they walked.
"Really?"
Lanqi had no idea that tales of his deeds had spread beyond Ikerite Academy.
During this past month, he had immersed himself in card making, spending most of his time at school.
Even when leaving campus, he only went to Boss Cat Restaurant, not far to the east, to see Talia.
"Even though the recordings of our Demon Realm Shadow World haven't been made public, the rumors have grown more and more exaggerated..."
Hyperion sighed.
She felt it might have been better if the recordings were available.
Precisely because there was no footage, people let their imaginations run wild as word spread from mouth to mouth. The story probably morphed with every retelling until every version ended up utterly absurd.
"Tell me, what are they saying?"
Lanqi asked curiously.
"The most ridiculous version so far is: 'Even if Headmaster Lan bears Purgatory upon his back and must hold up the Corridor Academy with one hand, facing the Blood Clan Prince, he is still invincible under heaven.'"
Hearing this, Lanqi almost choked on his own spit.
Coughing several times, he asked, "Nobody actually believes that, right?"
Hyperion shook her head.
"Well, plenty of residents in the capital find it entertaining to repeat. Some young parents even use the story to scare disobedient children: 'If you aren't a good, well-behaved child, Headmaster Lan will drag you off to the Demon Academy for reformation.'"
"I..."
For a moment, Lanqi was rendered speechless.
In that Shadow World, all he had promoted was love, peace, moral order, and wholesome, positive energy!
How on earth did it turn into a dark fairy tale?
Distortions spreading through hearsay were truly terrifying.
"Alright, alright, don't take it to heart. Everyone knows the stories are half in jest,"
Hyperion said with a helpless smile.
Though she knew the tales were three parts truth and seven parts fabrication, she could still see how utterly dumbfounded Lanqi was right now.
Hearing her words,
Lanqi nodded deeply.
Then, with an expression of firm resolve, he said:
"True enough. As long as I work harder next time, I'll definitely make everyone appreciate all the positive energy I promote."
"..."
Hyperion opened her mouth, then stopped.
She couldn't shake the feeling that she would have been better off keeping her mouth shut.
...
About half an hour later,
the two arrived at the Southern Continent Card Makers Association, located in eastern Ikerite near the Erica Magic Tower and Hutton Pedestrian Plaza.
Unlike the quaint branch of the Card Makers Association Lanqi had seen in the South Vantina frontier territory,
this magnificent postmodern building of the royal capital Ikerite branch had been constructed ten years ago, executed as a project by the Ikerite municipal government. It stood in sharp contrast to the neoclassical Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association building not far away; separated by the Hutton Pedestrian Plaza, the two structures were aligned along a central axis.
The glass curtain walls of the capital's Card Makers Association branch incorporated Ikerite's urban grid motifs and reflected the scenery of the Hutton Pedestrian Plaza.
The moment they stepped through the illusory waterfall gate that parted automatically to welcome them, they were met by streamlined corridors and a forest gallery within. In design alone, one could see the integration of Ikerite's humanities, geology, historical studies, paleontology, magic engineering, and sociology.
"What time does your exam start?"
Following the clear signage as they walked through the building, Hyperion turned her head and asked.
"Nine o'clock. There's plenty of time, so we can look around first,"
Lanqi estimated it was only just past eight right now.
"We've both ranked up, so we can also check if there are any new cards worth buying before our next Shadow World."
"Mm, sounds good."
Hyperion nodded.
She knew that all of Lanqi's Erroneous Healing series magic cards had been bought from the Card Makers Association.
Useless cards like these, which ordinary people would never touch, didn't cost much to acquire.
By browsing whenever he had time, he might just stumble across an Erroneous Healing spell card with even better effects.
Recently, however, it seemed that the prices of Erroneous Healing series magic cards throughout the entire Hutton Kingdom had begun to tick upward slightly.
People were gradually discovering that carrying one of these scrap cards—previously meant only for disenchanting—could be used to thoroughly disgust an opponent.
Even if it had no real combat effect, it was genuinely great for breaking an opponent's mental fortitude.
Hyperion knew that teachers from the School of Sages must have figured out this trick and copied Lanqi for amusement, gradually starting the trend.
Although they couldn't speak of it openly due to Dean Loren's gag order, the teachers all knew that these cards would skyrocket in price in the future, and the clever ones were already hoarding them.
Chapter 108