Beneath the solar crown, inside the temple, the gentle air was steeped in the fresh, herbal fragrance wafting from the surrounding flora.
Sitting upon the stone steps, Lanqi savored the cool breeze sweeping across the grassy cliffside, luxuriating in this dreamlike leisure with a serene, contented smile.
Although headmasters rarely invigilated exams in person, if one did, they had to ensure the student taking the exam felt no undue pressure.
From a distance, he observed Karen as she crafted her card.
The softly falling light illuminated her workbench like a sacred altar. Karen moved with the crisp, quiet precision of a holy maiden guarding the sanctuary.
When crafting cards within a Shadow World, the primary materials were usually obtained by first disenchanting imported magic cards and then reprocessing the remnants into new creations.
This was why many useless Purple Rare cards, referred to as "blanks," could still command a decent price.
Of course, within this temple, exotic flora and discarded stone scraps could also serve as fine ingredients, provided one understood how to use them and could concoct a proper blend.
Several varieties of natural green plants and flower petals were neatly arranged inside the toolkit on Karen's desk.
Setting the box before her workstation, she gently stroked each leaf, as if communing with them through her mana. She then plucked a feather-shaped green sprig from the box, placed it into a specialized mortar, and began grinding it with a jade pestle.
As she worked, a fine emerald powder wafted from the mortar, each speck carrying a unique magical aura. Next, Karen picked up a small vial of specially refined, clear magical ink and mixed it with the green powder, adding a pinch of lime. During the blending process, waves of mana swirled like a miniature tempest, setting the emerald particles dancing through the liquid.
Once this step was complete, Karen blew gently across the surface, smoothed her workbench flat, and waited for the ink and powder to fuse into harmony. Fixing her gaze upon the table once more, she placed a premium-quality blank card—salvaged from disenchantment—dead center.
Next, she dipped an exquisite portable quill into the freshly prepared ink. The instant the nib touched the surface, magical structures rapidly took form beneath her painstaking strokes. Every line and every rune was inextricably bound to the element of wind.
The process of card crafting was extraordinarily lengthy, demanding immense patience and concentration. Karen's eyes were sharp as a hawk's. Guided by the fluid motion of her wrist, the pen traced the magical framework with delicate yet absolute certainty.
Time seemed to stretch and compress. Before the temple's stone slabs, only Karen and her magic card remained. The card face under her quill radiated a soft magical halo, akin to dawn breaking over an emerald meadow.
"Truly impressive."
Lanqi rarely watched others make cards.
Witnessing the full process carried out by a genuine Gold-rank card maker like Karen, he could not help but marvel.
She had to possess an exceptionally deep comprehension of the Original Slate - Wind to proceed through every step with such conviction.
As for Lanqi, although he had brought along a few wind-attribute Purple Rare cards that could be disenchanted, he still had no idea what kind of wind-attribute card he should make based on the fragments of the Original Slate - Wind he had managed to decipher earlier.
This comparison only reinforced his conviction that unless it was the Original Slate - Seal, Original Slate - Healing, Original Slate - Mind, or perhaps the tolerably compatible Original Slate - Light, studying these slates was of little practical use to him.
Even if he genuinely gained some insight into wind-attribute magic engineering, he would rarely have occasion to craft wind cards in the future anyway.
The mural itself, however, was marvelous, and Lanqi couldn't resist admiring it a bit longer. He had completely lost interest in the barrier formulas carved across its surface.
"Lanqi, lend me an eye."
A crisp voice echoed in Lanqi's mind.
The Poet of Great Love had initiated contact.
Ever since Lanqi had lifted her summoning restrictions, she could manifest on her own or perceive events unfolding around him.
"Alright, alright, don't rush me."
Sensing the Poet of Great Love's restless stirring in his soul space, Lanqi complied with her mana demands, allowing her free rein over his reserves. Gradually, a sweep of cerulean radiance overtook his emerald-green left eye.
Though he hadn't gleaned much from the Original Slate, the Poet of Great Love might very well understand far more than he could.
Quite a long while slipped by.
Sitting on the stone steps, Lanqi watched Karen make her card while picking up a piece of fine stone material, whiling away the hours by carving and painting on it with the tools from his portable card-making toolkit.
"Lanqi, let me craft the card later. You'll be my assistant,"
the Poet of Great Love's voice chimed in his mind again, bossing him around with brazen confidence.
"Then I'll leave the heavy lifting to you this time."
Lanqi didn't mind in the slightest. If the Poet of Great Love was willing to do his work for him, he was more than happy to oblige.
Rising from the stone steps, he rolled back his sleeves and prepared to head toward a more distant spot, ensuring that even if he summoned the Poet of Great Love, she wouldn't disturb Karen.
His invigilation duties were concluded here.
……
The School of Sages' Ancient Tower Library.
Over an hour had passed since Karen and Lanqi entered the domain of the Original Slate. On the library's upper floors, countless students had come and gone in shifting waves.
Aside from a handful of curious students who lingered by the balustrades to peer down at the center of the ground floor, only the scholars tasked with routine record-keeping remained waiting.
Near a stone balustrade on the sixth floor, two armchairs flanked a low round table, offering students a relaxed spot for reading. Hyperion and Sophia sat there, leisurely sipping afternoon tea.
"When observing the slate, if someone performs well, they can produce a magic card right then and there. But with limited time, failing a few times burns through your materials, and you won't have enough time left to finish crafting."
Sophia was chatting with Hyperion about what typically happened when magic artificers observed the slate.
Having said that, she glanced toward the large clock in the library. If all went smoothly, the observation session should be wrapping up before long.
"It's fine. Lanqi's defining trait is his pure optimism; he really doesn't care whether he manages to craft a card or not."
Hyperion smiled, taking a sip of black tea.
Tata had told her late one night that out of every ten cards Lanqi crafted, nine ended up exploding. Yet while anyone else would be overcome with shame, disappointment, and frustration after a botched attempt, Lanqi would actually laugh about it once the smoke cleared.
"I wish I had Headmaster Lan's mindset,"
Sophia sighed, resting a palm against her cheek.
Perhaps she needed to be a bit more composed to properly rein in her Ainuoer.
"...Sophia, promise me you won't try to learn from him."
Hearing that, Hyperion immediately set down her teacup and looked at Sophia with earnest concern, offering a solemn warning.
She felt as though Sophia was already showing early symptoms.
While the two chatted, a commotion broke out on the ground floor, prompting both of them to rise from their armchairs and lean over the stone balustrade to look down.
Karen had already returned from the domain of the Original Slate to the Ancient Tower Library.
In the ground-floor hall, numerous scholars had risen from their seats to consult Karen about her insights from the session.
Surrounded like a star encircled by lesser luminaries, she wore an easy, gratified smile.
Up on the high terraces, many students peered down with curiosity, and murmurs of astonishment soon began to ripple through the crowd.
In Karen's hand rested a translucent card enveloped in a faint pink haze.
She made no attempt to conceal it, displaying the card's magical attributes openly for the scholars to appraise.
[Phantom of Wind]
[Type: Spell Card]
[Quality: Pink Sacred]
[Tier: 4]
[Passive Effect: If dodging is possible, grants 1 chance at an Ultimate Dodge every 20 seconds. Consumes mana upon triggering an Ultimate Dodge.]
[Note: Please don't bully this weak, pitiful, and helpless person.]
Crafting a card within the slate domain using a portable card-making toolkit to disenchant and reassemble materials was vastly harder than standard crafting in the real world, and the baseline materials rarely exceeded Purple Rare quality. For Karen to produce a Pink Sacred card on her first attempt spoke not only to an exceptional performance, but also to her formidable foundation and the profound inspiration she had gleaned within the slate's domain.
"Damn it, she actually made a Pink Sacred!"
Sophia hammered the stone balustrade in frustration.
Even from the sixth floor, she could hear the chorus of praise echoing from the students down below.
As far as Sophia knew, Karen had crafted at most two Pink Sacred cards in her entire life. Clearly, this observation had yielded tremendous returns. Furthermore, a survival-oriented magic card of this caliber was an absolute godsend for a battlefield card maker aiming to grind tier advancements in the Shadow Worlds.
"Unless Lanqi pulls off an Epic, or crafts an even stronger Sacred card, there's no way he'll outshine her,"
Sophia said, looking at Hyperion with a trace of anxiety.
She knew Lanqi's card crafting was characterized by an extraordinarily high ceiling and an equally abysmal floor—which was precisely how he had managed to reach the Platinum rank.
"That's almost impossible. Lanqi's compatibility with the wind attribute is terrible. If he manages to make any card at all, it'll already be cause for celebration."
Hyperion shook her head.
"Then isn't she going to get away with all that posturing?"
Seeing how unbothered Hyperion was, Sophia only grew more anxious on her behalf.
"Honestly, Lanqi probably won't care. He was never competitive to begin with."
Hyperion spread her hands helplessly; she had never seen Lanqi take a rivalry seriously.
She figured Lanqi had simply crafted whatever felt right in the moment.
As they talked, Lanqi's figure finally materialized before the Void Gate downstairs. The Void Gate formed by the Original Slate - Wind twisted and spun before vanishing in an instant, reverting to the magic card held in Dean Loren's hand.
Chapter 216