Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 27 Mar 2321

Time- 13:43

Location- Sky Blossom City, Sky Blossom Card Stadium, VIP Box no.1

"Not so fast by discovering your ethereal spirit you have only laid the bricks now you need to cement them. So before we move to the second stage you have to strengthen your bond with your ethereal spirit. You must have felt a connection with your ethereal spirit right. Try communicating with and get a response from it." Anna did not direct me to the next stage of Ego Gem formation. Instead, she directed me to strengthen my foundation before I plan to build the house.

"Oh about that I have already done that. Now can I move to the second stage of Ego Gem formation?" To get my ethereal spirit to retract three of its heads I had already enhanced my connection with it and got it to retract the extra three heads. It felt as if I was one step ahead of the syllabus.

"I give up! How did you achieve that even before I guided you? I would not be surprised if you were to say that you have already formed your Ego Gem." Anna acted as if she started to get numb to my level of prodigy.

"..." Maybe it is for the good that I hid about the Viltronian core and Calamity soul core. If ain't knew I discovered my version of monster core she would flip.

"You didn't, right?" Seeing me embarrassed by dodge her eyes Anna asked me in scepticism.

"Second stage please" I beg Anna, worried that if I left the conversation as it is Anna might start believing her suspicions.

"The second stage is to conjure your ethereal spirit to reality. For that, you will need to refine your soul energy to a higher degree of purity. Ethereal spirits are your soul's spirit but they have a more refined taste when it comes to the type of energy needed for their nourishment compared to the soul.

Therefore you need pure soul energy to nourish your ethereal spirit to reality. The purer the soul energy you nourish it with the stronger and faster it grows. If the purity of the soul energy does not meet its taste the ethereal spirit does not utilise the soul energy and it will go on a hunger strike growing weaker and weaker.

That's why most card apprentices refine their soul energy to a certain degree of purity before trying to find their soul's ethereal spirit. I was going to advise you the same after you failed your first try to find your soul's ethereal spirit but I think it's not necessarily seeing the prodigy that you are." Anna gave a brief explanation of soul energy purity and the important role it plays in nursing the ethereal spirit to conjure it to reality.

"Why did you not start explaining something as important as this? What happens if a card apprentice's ethereal spirit goes on a hunger strike not receiving pure soul energy?" Purity of the soul energy was not a concern to me but still, I wanted to know the consequence of not ethereal spirit growing weaker due to lack of pure soul energy.

"How would I know that you would find your ethereal spirit in the frist trial?" Anna threw the ball in my court.

"So, is it my fault that I am a prodigy?" I was narcissistic here but it was the only thing I could annoy Anna with.

"You… don't forget I am the stronger one here." Anna reminded me who's the boss and added, " As the ethereal spirit grows weaker it starts feeding on the card apprentice's active soul control to continue its existence. Usually, those who can find their soul's ethereal spirit can purify their soul energy to the required degree before that happens. But if somebody still isn't able to meet the requirement then they will just die. After all, stored stocks are going to run out someday."

"With such dire consequences, you did not start guiding me with that. Anyway, how do I refine my soul energy to purify it? Is there a method or potion I need to take for that?" Despite having my unorthodox method to refine my soul energy I wanted to know how the other card apprentices did it.

"Oh, you are going to love this. The answer to refining your soul energy is dual cultivation. Lots and lots of dual cultivation. You know the higher the realm of your partner the better the results you get. Here, let me teach you how dual cultivation is done." Anna with great enthusiasm started to explain dual cultivation, its merits and how it is done.

"Dual cultivation you say? Are you sure you are not making this stuff up?" I asked, acting ignorant towards Anna's obvious intentions.

"No, why would I? What could I possibly get from lying to you?" I could literally see Anna dripping drool.

"Real, I guess you are right? But where do I find a partner willing to perform dual cultivation with me? Not to mention you said the higher the realm of my partner the more benefits I get. But where do I find a willing and ideal partner?" I continued to play along with Anna.

"You know Wyatt, A partner in the Card emperor realm is the best for your current situation. If you were to perform dual cultivation with someone of that realm you may even be able to form your Ego Gem faster than you expect it to." Anna could not be more obvious. Did she believe that I was ignorant enough to fall for her dumb lies?

"Card emperor? Won't they be too old? I do like a woman with a fully grown and matured set of assets but a card emperor will be too old for me don't you think? After all, I just turned 17 this year." Yep, I used the age card. What an irony, a transmigrator judging others on their age.

"Wyatt, how could you say such shallow words? Age is just a number." Anna acted as if I was the villainous husband who was bullying his caring and lovely older wife for her age.