The Card Apprentice

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Pushing open the door to the office, he found that Bu Qiangdong had been waiting there a long time. He rushed to stand when he saw Chen Mu enter.

"What is it?" Chen Mu asked tersely.

Carefully assessing the expression on the boss's face, Bu Qiangdong immediately saw he wasn't in great spirits. He was pretty good at reading expressions and knew he would have to make his long story short.

"We've distributed everything we completed, Boss. Based on your instructions, we've put the Heaven's Wings logo on all of our work." Bu Qiangdong spoke very carefully, but even though he was restrained in his speech, it was hard to hide his excitement.

By then, he endlessly admired the young new boss. But, it wasn't only him; everyone was in awe of the boss. If it weren't for the boss's template, and if they'd had to rely on their own power, they would never have been able to make such fine works. They had expended so much energy just to imitate him. That was why they'd felt the imponderable depths of the boss's skills still more profoundly.

They hadn't originally understood what the boss was trying to do. It had finally dawned on them when Chen Mu had them put the Heaven's Wings logo on each fantasy card, as well as in the corner of the emitted images. That was how the boss had been planning to establish their brand all along!

Everyone was both admiring the boss's long outlook and marveling at his power. It was probably only by drawing on such deep skill that he could be so bold with his strategy. They thought about those public service announcements, which would be around for several years; they would provide Heaven's Wings with so much virtual advertising. And, the study material for students was still more perfect marketing. Bu Qiangdong was even considering selling the teaching materials since he believed there would be quite a market for them.

Chen Mu didn't actually know everyone's opinion of him had undergone such a complete transformation during that brief time.

What did he know about strategy? The reason he'd sent Bu Qiangdong out to get public service work was only because such work was always so well-received. He wanted to quickly find out the actual abilities of his employees. If they were good, then he might as well give it a try; if they had no ability, then he would certainly dissolve Heaven's Wings. As for the matter of the logo, that was something he'd learned from Copper. He thought of the year when the card plays signed by "Wood-Cop" had been so well-received in Eastern Shang-Wei City.

It was all a complete fluke for Chen Mu. When he saw Bu Qiangdong's fiery look, he didn't quite understand and was disinclined to take much notice. Chen Mu didn't have any response to Bu Qiangdong's report.

Was it really anything so important?

Still, Chen Mu didn't intend to dash Bu Qiangdong's enthusiasm, so he nodded, saying, "Mmmm, well done." Having put in only a short time as a leader, he already knew the basics.

Bu Qiangdong's expression became more animated. "We've just taken in several pieces of business, Boss. Although they aren't large, your strategy has really been brilliant!" The boss was the boss after all, and seeing Chen Mu's face so composed, Bu Qiangdong became simply adoring.

The news had given the rather fatigued Chen Mu a bit of a boost. As long as there was business, he wasn't going to belittle it. Was there anything less profitable than to make one-star power cards? He had made those for three full years, and he wasn't going to stop making them because he thought the money wasn't good. Besides, that gang had to put up the money so he could have some leisure.

"Mmmm. Do a good job with those." Chen Mu gave Bu Qiangdong some encouragement.

Chen Mu didn't take a rest when he returned to the training space upstairs. Having been interrupted by Bu Qiangdong, he felt as though his energy had been somewhat restored.

He was entranced sitting there looking at the pool. The water in it was perfectly smooth and looked like a huge crystal from a distance, without any of the raging rapids from just before. Chen Mu sneered; before then, he had thought he knew a lot about water. He now understood how far he fell short. But, when he thought about it seriously, it was all quite normal. No matter how realistic what a fantasy card made was—or how excellent —in the end, it was not real.

He didn't do anything more than train his perception and break the water grass in the simple water world, naively thinking he had already become extremely familiar with water. Then, for those last few days, he'd deeply felt that, while it seemed easy, moving forward in the water held hidden within it some deep knowledge. That knucklehead Wei-ah had once demonstrated how he could advance like a cheetah in the water, which had left Chen Mu gape-mouthed and staring.

The raging flow of water seemed not to have any influence on Wei-ah, which filled Chen Mu with envy to see.

Sitting on the ground and looking at the transparent pool in front of him, Chen Mu looked blank. His mind was unconsciously going over the experience of those last few days. His biggest impression was that the feeling of real water was quite different from the water in the simple water world.

A sudden thought jumped out at him.

What might happen if he were to train his perception in real water?

Yes, if he were to train his perception in real water, what kind of results would he get? The extreme perceptual training he was doing then used a water environment to stimulate a rapid rise in his perception.

The thought hit him like lightning striking his mind, and he felt a powerful impulse to immediately try out his idea. Then, he quickly calmed down, staring at the transparent pool, his brain spinning. With issues involving perception, he couldn't afford to be the least bit reckless.

He quickly realized the crux of the issue. If he could train in water, then why would the maker of the mysterious card specifically make the simple water world?

Thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't find any resolution, so he just took a different angle: what was the difference between the simple water world and real water?

Comparing them, Chen Mu quickly found where the issue was. The simple water world was very similar to real water in every other aspect; while they were different, the differences weren't large. The only basic difference was breathing. One could breathe very naturally in the simple water world, while there wasn't any way to do that in real-world water.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. He'd grasped that it was certainly the most crucial aspect. Though, he still harbored a few misgivings about how the one who had established that sort of training in the beginning had thought of it. Could he also have had a simple water world fantasy card? If not, then how had he solved the issue?

Chen Mu was sitting alone quietly in the training room, his brow furrowed in thought.

There wasn't any way to breathe in water. It was a very lethal place. Perceptual training had always required several hours or even more. Without relying on other tools, Chen Mu could only last about ten minutes underwater. That was his limit. And, ten minutes was too short for perceptual training.

But, there wasn't any kind of tool yet to enable someone to freely breathe underwater. After all, to exercise one's perception required the devotion of one's entire spirit, which was a wonderful state where one would become unconscious while remaining both sensitive and sluggish in reaction to his surroundings. The sensitivity was because the six senses would become acute, and the sluggishness was expressed through the movements. There was basically no way under that state to effectively control one's own body.

After thinking about it a long time, Chen Mu felt he needed to give it a try. Thinking it over, he knocked on a quiet-room that had its door closed. After a few seconds, Wei-ah opened the door, showing his stone-like face. "What is it?"

"I need you to help me with something," Chen Mu said.

Without asking what it was, Wei-ah walked straight out of the quiet-room.

Noticing Wei-ah looking at him, Chen Mu considered for a moment and said, "I'll stay in the pool for a while. Pay attention to my situation, and if you find any trouble with my breathing, then fish me out. Just like that."

Without asking why, Wei-ah said smartly, "Ok."

Having Wei-ah's protection, Chen Mu's mind relaxed quite a bit. That way, he didn't have to worry about anything happening while he was training.

Climbing onto the pool, Chen Mu gave Wei-ah a look and put the weight from before on his back. He jumped into the pool.

Having undergone so many days of training in the pool, Chen Mu was already familiar with it. Just as before, the water reached up to his chin. Standing in the water, He spent a whole five minutes to settle himself. He put all the miscellaneous thoughts out of his mind in his heightened state of concentration.

Taking in a deep breath, Chen Mu gradually submerged.

Once he'd entered the water, it seemed as though the entire world was far away, and the noises were abruptly reduced. Once he started to enter the water, the water in his ears and nose made him a little uncomfortable, though he quickly got used to it. The water was like a barrier, cutting him off from the outside world while his mind was strangely serene.

Knowing he couldn't support himself very long on a single breath, he didn't waste any time. He immediately focused his mind to start the everyday training that was so familiar to him. He quickly entered the state, benefitting from his ordinary persistence in the training, no matter the circumstances. That was why he was able to get rid of the distractions so quickly.

His perception started to ripple like water, and the spiral spring of perception in his body started to spin regularly.

It was a different kind of feeling.

The perceptual tendrils that emanated from the spiral spring were very difficult to control in the water. With only the slightest ripple, the perceptual tendrils would float along with the water, not at all responsive to his control. Chen Mu had no way to know the situation would be like that; the perceptual tendrils were normally like obedient children. Now, in the water, they had suddenly become naughty.

Chen Mu couldn't do anything but to expend all of his effort on controlling the perceptual tendrils, though the difficulty was far beyond what he had imagined. After only a moment, the dense perceptual tendrils had been reduced by half. His perceptions were influenced by the undercurrents in the water and lost contact with Chen Mu as they dispersed.

Chen Mu quickly became flustered, grabbing at one while losing the other, without being able to stop the perceptual tendrils he'd sent out from fading. The situation in real water was a lot more complicated than the simple water world. If one were to say the simple water world was like a light shower, then the real water was like a raging storm.

Chen Mu was like a little sampan being tossed in the wind and rain.