The Card Apprentice

“We’ve finally escaped.” Chen Mu gazed at the towering cliff in front of him emotionally, the endless Ocean of Blue Tantra stretching out behind him. After three consecutive days of trekking, the pair had finally escaped the sea of death. Looking back at the Ocean of Blue Tantra, it seemed that its beauty had long faded, exposing its underlying ferocity and cruelty. These three days, they had not seen any other living organisms. However, scattered about the perimeter were heaps upon heaps of animal skeletons. These bone remnants revealed the danger underneath this ethereal beauty.

Originally, with the Demonic Woman’s speed -or lack thereof – it would be impossible to traverse the Ocean of Blue Tantra so quickly. Chen Mu became frustrated with their sluggish progress; hence, he re-enacted the same trick that he had used before. He carried the Demonic Woman and sprinted as fast as he can. Now that his power had considerably surged, his movement speed was even more superb.

After several days without food, they could not endure the gnawing hunger. If they couldn’t find any food as soon as possible, then they would be finished. The Demonic Woman protested halfheartedly before submitting to the embrace. Chen Mu’s clothes were torn to shreds in the Cold Crystal Storm, and even though her clothes were not damaged, they were made out of a paper-thin material. With them being pressed so close together, it naturally felt a little strange.

Chen Mu repeated countless times in his heart – she is just a monkey.

But this time, the monkey method didn’t seem to work very well. He still often found it hard to focus. In contrast, Chen Mu felt that the Demonic Woman in his arms seemed to be calmer than him, remaining quiet and cooperative.

Nevertheless, he was relieved to finally get out of the Ocean of Blue Tantra. It was like a burden was lifted off of his shoulders. Looking around, towering, jagged cliffs could be seen which surrounded the ocean. The cliffs here were extremely high. As far as they can see, the top of the cliffs still remained out of sight.

Chen Mu gritted his teeth and replaced his power-card. He then tightened his hold on the Demonic Woman and started to scale the uneven surface of the cliff. He flew for ten minutes up the cliff, but the cold surface still remained in front of his face. Their altitude was now terrifyingly high. The good thing was that the airflow here was rather stable. Otherwise, a single misstep could lead him to his death.

Even though their climbing speed wasn’t exceptionally fast, they had traveled at least dozens of kilometers up the steep cliff after ten minutes. Being so far up and away from the ground, Chen Mu realized that he had never flown so high before, which made him feel slightly unnerved. The Demonic Woman didn’t feel any better. She didn’t dare to move an inch in Chen Mu’s arms.

Chen Mu had the jet stream card with him, so the possibility of him dying from a fall wasn’t that high. She didn’t, so if she fell from such a high place…Peering down from here, a strong sense of vertigo struck. By now, they had no other choices. Thus they could only muster their courage and continue ascending. After flying for about another twenty minutes, they finally had a new discovery.

At the position where they had come to a halt, there was a crevice that was less than 2 meters wide. The crack was immeasurably deep with powerful gusts of cold wind that blew out from inside, raising their goosebumps. The crevice was definitely an air vent since the force of the wind was strong. When Chen Mu flew past just now, he was unexpectedly blown off-course, and this was how they found this unremarkable crack.

Both of them couldn’t suppress their joy. The presence of wind indicated that the crack might be a connection to the outside world! Above them, the top of the cliff still couldn’t be seen. They exchanged a look and decided to go in to check it out. The closer they were to the crack, the stronger the wind force. Chen Mu had to use all of his might to force the jet stream card to approach. The wind assaulted the pair relentlessly, causing them to wobble as they failed to make any progress.

Just as Chen Mu was at a loss, the Demonic Woman suddenly extended a black vine from her hand to a piece of protruding rock. Relying on the black vine, they managed to climb into the crack after much struggling. The wind whipped across their faces, like thousands of cutting knives. They advanced against the wind, going towards the cliff.

Barely a couple of steps into the crevice, the Demonic Woman suddenly exclaimed. “A Painted Graphistemma!” It was as if she had discovered a treasure. She knelt on the ground and clutched onto a vine in her hand. Chen Mu couldn’t tell the color of the vine due to the darkness in the cave. This vine that the Demonic Woman called a Painted Graphistemma was only of a thumb’s thickness, and its body was bare with nothing on it. It was like a hair that grew on the rock, which sounded absurd when described in such a way. Strangely enough, the vine was motionless despite the force of the wind that blew through the air vent.

However, seeing that the Demonic Woman act like she had discovered an immeasurable treasure, Chen Mu could infer that this unremarkable vine was not an ordinary object. “Help me,” The Demonic Woman raised her head and looked at Chen Mu for help. “I just need about fifteen meters.”

Chen Mu crouched down and reached for the Painted Graphistemma. He asked: “What is this?””It’s Painted Graphistemma.” The Demonic Woman’s tone was overjoyed. The usual coldness in the Demonic Woman had disappeared. Without her frosty demeanor, she seemed like an ordinary girl. As soon as the vine was in his hand, Chen Mu immediately sensed the difference.

Heavy! The weight of the vine was far more than what he had expected. His hand sank from its weight. No wonder the Painted Graphistemma was motionless in the air vent. It was so heavy. It was much heavier than other metal wires of the same diameter. He tried to yank it out, but there was no hint of movement.

What a tough plant! It was far tougher than any plant that Chen Mu had ever seen. The Demonic Woman then said: “The Painted Graphistemma can’t be ripped out with bare hands. It is one of the toughest and most stubborn plants in existence. You have to use a card!”

Chen Mu gladly abided and extended his index finger. A black and a white energy bead appeared at his fingertips, followed by a bright, thin beam of light generated between the energy beads. Both energy beads flexibly alternated their positions along with the bright beam. This is the most simplified form of the Go Cage of Thousand Cuts. In the past, he had been unable to demonstrate such delicate control.

The tiny beam of light and the Painted Graphistemma came into contact. Sizzle! Sparks flew everywhere. Such a scene could only be seen when that beam of light was used to cut metal. Chen Mu secretly marveled in wonder. He moved the beam of light aside and brought the Painted Graphistemma to his eyes. He found that there was no substantial damage to it apart from a subtle mark on its surface.

Impressive! The curiosity in Chen Mu’s heart increased as he increased his energy input. The beam of light became brighter, and the sparks reappeared with a vengeance. He did not need the Demonic Woman to extol the virtues of the vine. He was already quite interested in this magical plant. The beam of light was so bright that the blaze was blinding. The initial sparks had long since abated by then. Only Chen Mu knew that the damage of the beam of light had already reached an alarming point. It could even easily cut through the majority of power shields.

But even with such an intense beam of light, it took Chen Mu a full ten minutes to slice through the Painted Graphistemma. Right as that part of the Painted Graphistemma got sawed off, the Demonic Woman snatched it away and could scarcely part with it. “What is this thing used for?” Chen Mu cut off his energy input and dissipated the perception that was used to control the light beam.

“As a weapon,” The Demonic Woman declared proudly. “It would be the most powerful weapon!” Weapon? Chen Mu looked at the smooth Painted Graphistemma and remembered the Demonic Woman’s black vine that could come and go like a shadow. He was stunned by that revelation.

“Let’s go.” The feeling of being in the air vent was not pleasant. They walked against the wind for about fifty meters, and they were finally greeted by a widening of the narrow space, which was a sight for sore eyes. The wind force had suddenly weakened.

Growing sparsely over the ground were several species of plants that Chen Mu couldn’t name. These plants were completely different from those that could be found in the Heavenly Federation. These were either black or dark brown in color, none of them were green.

When the Demonic Woman’s gaze fell on a plant, the Painted Graphistemma that she had just acquired trembled gently, before accurately entangling itself around that plant like a nimble snake. This plant was also rather strange. It only had bare twigs, and the tip of the branches was abnormally sharp, just like thorns. Clinging to the twigs were a couple of black colored fruits. She pulled at the base of the plant gently, and it was easily uprooted from the soil.

The Demonic Woman plucked the dark fruits off the plant and passed a few to Chen Mu. “They’re edible,” she explained. Then, she gobbled up the remaining herself. Chen Mu accepted her offering and took a bite without hesitation. It was a type of berry bursting with juice. Although it wasn’t too sweet, he ate it up instantly. After finishing them up, he wiped his mouth, yearning for more. “Are there more?”

After eating that few fruits, the feeling of fullness in his belly was bliss to Chen Mu. Both of their bodies were outrageously strong, and their ability of nutrient absorption was also abnormally efficient. Soon, their stamina was practically fully recovered. They stood up at the same time and began to search for more food.

The terrain here was very different from the Ocean of Blue Tantra. It was uneven and rough, and the plants were sparse, unlike the spectacular sight of the large patches of flora in the Ocean of Blue Tantra. The plants here were all bizarre in appearance, with next to no leaves. These low shrubs, if you could even call them shrubs, looked like fake trees made out of intertwined wires.

This place and the Heavenly Federation were like two contrasting worlds. There were black and grey colors in abundance, while other colors could barely be seen. It was far less colorful than the jungles in the Heavenly Federation. However, the tenacity of these plants left an impression on Chen Mu, since he could not even pick many of them with his bare hands. They grew tenaciously in this place that never saw the sun.

The Demonic Woman found several other edible things to fill their bellies, and their hunger was finally semi-satisfied. The unlikely pair had gradually regained their strength, and proportionately their courage as well. They continued to move forward. Despite their recovery and a semblance of safety here, the Demonic Woman’s eyes had maintained a high degree of vigilance, which caused Chen Mu to realize that this was still a place overflowing with danger.

They trudged forward cautiously for about half an hour without many changes in the vegetation along the way. Chen Mu stopped walking all of a sudden, startling the Demonic Woman. She approached Chen Mu unobtrusively and murmured. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a little flying thing approaching this way,” Chen Mu whispered back. “How big is it?””It’s about this big.” Chen Mu gestured in the air with his hands, showing that it was about half as big as his fist. His facial expression suddenly changed, “It seemed to have discovered us, it’s speeding up! It’s too fast!”

Almost as soon as he said that the Demonic Woman’s pupils suddenly contracted. They were tightly focused on the rapidly growing black spot in front. It suddenly sprang in front of the two, and halted without any sign! The move was reminiscent of Chen Mu’s emergency stop in mid-air before this.

The ridiculous speed made Chen Mu’s jaw drop, and he stared closely at the tiny organism. The Demonic Woman’s expression darkened dramatically, and there was a paralyzing fear in her voice when she finally spoke. “It’s a Shadow Bee!”