As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 88 The Perfect Glue
Leiliana told Xu Yan that there were many wilderness refugees gathered around Rolling Stone Castle.

Most of the lucky ones who were able to escape the invasion of the past and struggled all the way to Rolling Stone Castle were strong, tough, brave and fearless of life and death.

Many people also harbor forbidden evil spirits and are eroded by them, suffering from spiritual erosion disease.

The refugees are like waves, invading Rolling Stone Castle day and night. If they are not properly handled, chaos may occur at any time.

Leiliana's original intention of establishing the Rolling Stone Club was to help these compatriots who were homeless, desperate, but armed with weapons.

Introduce jobs to the wilderness refugees, control the development of their spiritual erosion, purchase their evil spirit banned cards at a reasonable price, and replace them with safer, more stable and legal heroic spirit cards, to ensure that most people can live peacefully while barely having enough to eat.

"I don't know."

Xu Yan was a little confused. "Isn't this a good thing? Why make it so... mysterious?"

"Because we can't provide glamorous jobs for all the refugees in the wilderness, in order to survive, sometimes they have to do some...shady business."

Leiliana said bitterly, "Moreover, many people, after going through untold hardships, have already suffered from severe spiritual erosion by the time they arrive at Rolling Stone Castle. They could erupt at any time and transform into eroded spirits.

"We had no choice but to resort to radical means to control the Old Ones within them.

"Even so, the death rate remains high, and sometimes the scenes are even very...bloody.

"As for replacing the forbidden evil spirit cards with heroic spirit cards, that's not so easy either. Many refugees have gone through life and death trials and have reached a high level of tacit understanding with the evil spirits. No matter how we persuade them, even if we offer them cards of a higher level in exchange, they are unwilling to hand over their 'comrades' who have shared life and death with them.

"However, if they hang out with evil spirits for a long time, they will definitely develop spirit erosion and gradually become spirit-eroded beings."

Xu Yan spread his hands, looking nonchalant. "I'm from the Shadow Ruins. What you're talking about is just daily life there. Any problem?"

"The problem is we're too close to Dawn City."

Leiliana sighed, "Dawn City is a safe zone, home to many kind-hearted individuals who hate to see the refugees in the wilderness suffer. Therefore, it's best for us to hide all the dirty and bloody things to avoid offending the eyes of the important individuals.

"Anyway, you came at an unfortunate time, as the Rolling Stone Club is having a little trouble.

“But it will be dealt with quickly.

"If you just need a job, stay here for now and be my apprentice."

Xu Yan's eyes lit up.

"You, your apprentice?"

He pointed to the tip of his nose and asked in disbelief, "Is it okay for me?"

"Just do what you're good at. Help me deal with some scrap cards. If you can repair them, repair them. If you can't, recycle the extraordinary materials in them. Why not?"

Leiliana forced a smile. "The current situation is special. You can't leave for the time being, and you can't contact the outside world. But it doesn't matter. I know Mr. Li Tong, the owner of the Star Shop, and Captain Long of the patrol team. I'll go and say hello to them. You can go back in a week at most.

"As for work and finding a way to get to Dawn City, don't worry about it. Just trust me, that's all."

"of course."

Xu Yan said without any ulterior motive, "If even Aunt Leiliana doesn't believe me, who else can I trust?"

"That's good."

Xu Yan's words were like an electric current, stimulating Leiliana's expression, making it extremely complicated.

She gazed deeply at the innocent-looking boy and said sincerely, "Listen, in the next few days, I will teach you as much as I can about how to repair and strengthen combat cards. You must study hard. The more you learn, the greater your value will be.

"Don't be afraid of being exploited. For refugees like us, who have no one to rely on in the wilderness, the only way to survive is to constantly increase our value and allow ourselves to be exploited."

Xu Yan blinked.

I don't quite understand what Leiliana means.

But you can feel the true feelings of the hostess of the Rolling Stone Club hidden between the lines.

"I see."

He nodded gently, smiling as brightly as the sun. "We will all survive, Aunt Leiliana. Just like you often tell Crazy Cat Chris and the others, we will live like human beings."

……

Xu Yan had no objection to staying "temporarily".

Time is on his side.

As soon as the sun rises, the news that "the mysterious card maker mysteriously disappeared after showing off his skills at the Rolling Stone Club" will spread throughout the entire Rolling Stone Castle and become the best excuse for Long Jianhuan to conduct an in-depth investigation.

Both the big boss and Leiliana would be overwhelmed and exhausted, and even reveal flaws in the chaos.

That's the best opportunity.

Unfortunately, the development of events once again exceeded Xu Yan's expectations.

Time passed day by day. He had been in the secret room as a card-making apprentice for five whole days, but he still didn't notice the chaos outside, nor did he figure out what Leiliana was up to.

At first, he thought that even if Leiliana was not the real murderer, she was at least an accomplice.

It was under the guise of "recruiting apprentices" that they deceived him into deliberately leaking the "Seven-Star Soul-Piercing Nail".

However, Leiliana was like a selfless teacher. While Xu Yan was dealing with the scrapped cards, she used her real skills to give him careful guidance, which benefited him a lot, but she did not ask for any reward from him.

Even when Xu Yan couldn't help but want to reveal a trick to test her, she deliberately covered the micro camera hole and used micro-expressions and body language to hint to Xu Yan that there were ears on the other side of the wall.

Xu Yan keenly felt that Leiliana was being coerced by someone and was under great pressure and even fear all day long.

The wounds on her face and body grew larger day by day, and even makeup couldn't hide them. She wore sunglasses in the house, and used scarves, long sleeves, and gloves to cover her bruised and purple flesh. When Xu Yan asked her about the truth, she was evasive and vague.

However, even if Leiliana didn't say it, Xu Yan had his own way.

With the repair of the Human Emperor Banner, Xu Yan's perception improved at a speed visible to the naked eye every day.

Gently placing his ear against the wall, he seemed to be able to hear the sound coming from deep underground, and sense the extremely distorted human emotions, which condensed into resentment and even evil spirits, surging like a black tide.

All of this stimulated the sealed area deep in his brain, and the memory fragments of his original body were ready to move.

He had a vague premonition.

I'll soon remember what the so-called "real club" is.

"They come, the security."

Xu Yan told himself to be patient.

With his current strength, if he releases "Lin" and "Jelly", it will not be a problem for him to fight his way out.

But doing so would make too much noise, either attracting patrols or forcing the other party to panic and flee.

If Long Jianhuan fell from the sky, it would be difficult for him to help his original body get revenge and monopolize the fruits of victory.

"Wait another three days. If there's still no chance, then our Vice Captain Long will be the one to take advantage."

Thinking of this, Xu Yan opened Leiliana's card-making notes beside the camp bed.

It contains densely packed words of experience written in characters the size of an ant's head.

There are also a large number of sketches of symbol arrays, patterns and entries, as well as the nested relationships and operating logic between them.

Judging from the wear and tear of the notebook, as well as the types of spiritual cards and working conditions recorded, these are the experiences and insights gained by Leiliana during her early adventures in the wilderness.

These are all methods for drawing, repairing, and strengthening mid- and low-level bronze battle cards.

There are also some unconventional methods whose principles are unclear but whose effects are miraculous.

For academic card makers who grew up in a safe zone, these things don't mean much.

But for Xu Yan, a self-taught person, the card-making notes of Lei Lianna, who also came from a self-taught background, are of immeasurable value.

The card-making skills that Xu Yan currently masters mainly consist of three parts.

First, the art of talisman making in the world of cultivation.

Second, Dr. Hyde’s card-making technique.

Third, Li Tong taught his civilian card maintenance and strengthening methods.

Among the three, the talisman-making technique in the world of cultivation and the card-making technique in the Age of Heroes have similar underlying logic.

However, at the application level, there are huge differences and they cannot be simply copied.

Dr. Hyde is the leading card-making expert in Dawn City, and his skills are certainly outstanding.

The problem is that "remembrance" is incomplete and the levels involved are too abstruse.

Li Tong is a civilian card maker with decades of experience. He taught Xu Yan everything he knew without reservation, allowing Xu Yan to basically master the secrets of civilian cards in just half a month.

However, there are extremely high technical barriers from civilian cards to combat cards.

Either it is too high, too low, or not perfectly compatible with today's world.

Xu Yan was like holding three sparkling gems in his hands, but he couldn't string them together perfectly.

But now, Leiliana's "low- and medium-level bronze battle card processing technology" is like the perfect glue, which can help him fill in the most critical piece of the puzzle.

"Modern card-making theory is truly vast and profound!"

A full half hour later.

Xu Yan looked up from his notes, his eyes filled with joy and emotion.

He pulled over a box of cards that needed repairing, eager to try out the new technique he had just mastered.

His fingertips slid across the pile of cards quickly.

With a slight flick, an extremely damaged two-star bronze card jumped into his palm.

In terms of condition, this card can no longer be described as "battle damaged".

It was like something that had been chewed up fiercely by a ferocious beast from hell, swallowed into its stomach, dissolved by the extremely corrosive stomach acid, and then spit out again.

Xu Yan concentrated his mind and calmed his breath, and a strand of spiritual thread extended from his eyebrows.

As soon as I touched the card surface, it made a hissing sound, just like throwing an ice cube into a boiling oil pan.

The card vibrated violently, and a black mist appeared on its surface. There was even a faint stench like a rotting corpse, which rushed into his mind, making him dizzy and irritable.

“Such a strong conflict between residual souls.

"These damaged cards, on the verge of collapse, are truly bizarre and full of unique features. They are perfect for practicing card-making techniques!"

(End of this chapter)