In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

Luo Tianyi did not answer immediately, but instead pulled out the most conspicuous flute from her waist and examined it in her hand.

This was a bamboo flute with a deep, dark green color, resembling a warm and lustrous piece of jade. Luo Tianyi brought it to her lips, gathered her breath, and began to play.

The sound reached Lu Mingfei's ears, and he instantly recognized the difference: amidst the melodious flute music, this sound also contained a sharp whistle tone...

Is something hidden inside the flute?

Before he could ask, Luo Tianyi drew her sword—or rather, her flute. The flute, only a foot long, cleverly utilized its internal space to hold a blade over six inches long. The blade was matte, with only the middle half-inch gleaming. Lu Mingfei suspected this was an attempt to mislead others into thinking the blade was only dangerous there.

Luo Tianyi stepped forward and summoned the Tiandian from Lu Mingfei's card pack. The little sprite floated for a moment, emitting a wave of 'resonance,' and then began to play—

Luo Tianyi danced gracefully.

The gleaming silver blade danced with Luo Tianyi's movements to the music, like a silver fish swimming around her. The trinkets adorning her skirt swayed, lifting the hem and drawing beautiful yet dangerous arcs in the air.

Lu Mingfei simply leaned back in his chair, watching her movements.

The piece was short, only about five minutes long, and the dance ended as Luo Tianyi sheathed her sword and put it into her flute. Lu Mingfei clapped enthusiastically, much to Luo Tianyi's embarrassment, and the next moment she reached out to grab Lu Mingfei—

After a while of bickering, the two gradually quieted down, and Lu Mingfei then asked a question:

"So, how did you do that? Why did that magic seek out the transmutation circle on its own and get transmuted by you?"

Luo Tianyi lay on the bed, her form-fitting women's night clothes outlining her beautiful figure, trembling slightly with her breathing—Lu Mingfei felt that she shouldn't be breathing like that, at least not with the equipment reinforcement...

So actually, she hadn't figured out her own body's attributes yet, and subconsciously thought she needed to breathe?

Lu Mingfei thought so, so he decided to help her.

With a swift movement, the entire jade flute landed in Lu Mingfei's hand. Luo Tianyi merely glanced at it before continuing to pant—the next moment, a gleaming blade slashed down at her, startling Luo Tianyi into instantly scrambling to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me help you ease the pain." The blade returned to its original position, handed back by Lu Mingfei. A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he gently patted Luo Tianyi's stomach. "How are you? Still panting?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Tianyi glared at Lu Mingfei—even in a huff, her almond-shaped eyes still possessed a captivating charm—then she raised her hand, changed into her everyday clothes, and stuffed the [Shuojin] into Lu Mingfei's wallet.

"So, so, how exactly did you create this card?" Lu Mingfei simply moved a chair next to her, rubbing his shoulder against hers repeatedly, "Tell me, tell me, tell me..."

……

Finally, unable to resist Lu Mingfei's coquettish advances, Luo Tianyi revealed her secret.

—To be precise, it wasn't exactly a 'secret manual,' because she didn't actually know why the magic would automatically enter the transmutation circle, so Lu Mingfei could only have her explain the transmutation process from beginning to end.

"Actually, it's nothing much." Luo Tianyi blinked. "I just wanted to forge a good set of equipment before I could even finish forging it, and then I started thinking about what kind of equipment to forge..."

"If it can be so specifically used for forging, then the equipment must not be ordinary equipment—so I imagined a person, she is an assassin, an assassin who specializes in killing those who deserve to die—"

"Her skills are superb; she can scale walls and rooftops as if walking on flat ground, and take the enemy's head in the blink of an eye. In this vast world, with her abilities, once she knows who deserves to die, she can take their head, and no matter where the enemy flees, they cannot escape her..."

"Then, I thought about forging her equipment, and with her equipment, I could gradually grow and acquire her abilities—"

"And that's how this system was eventually perfected."

So, it's thought?

Lu Mingfei began to think.

Having spent a long time in St. Marian, he had come into contact with people who crafted equipment cards before—given the atmosphere of the Knights Academy, a considerable number of people would craft cards in the common lounge, because they would occasionally receive guidance from their seniors.

However, many times, those who attempt to craft cards fail and end up with a useless card amidst painful cries or helpless sighs.

Those few who manage to achieve this often don't bother to investigate what they've actually accomplished; instead, they immediately begin to cheer after the achievement.

"...So, the crux of the problem is, when you're forging, do you still need to think about what kind of equipment you want to create?" Lu Mingfei pondered for a moment and felt that this might be the truth.

Just like his Chinese teacher once said, "Aim high and you'll get average; aim average and you'll get low."

Luo Tianyi hoped to obtain a night-clothes that would make her "highly skilled" once she put them on. Although the final result didn't reach the level of "making her the best in the world once she puts them on," she was at least at the level of an ordinary martial arts master.

—Those who attempt to craft item cards don't have time to think about what they can achieve when they're crafting them; that's what they do when choosing materials.

When it comes to the actual beginning of the process, they become so nervous that they often repeat the mistakes they made during the initial process...

The more you pray that you won't make mistakes, the more your magic will veer in the wrong direction.

"This kind of 'experience' is something that cannot be taught... After all, those who refine cards don't have the spark, and they can't completely control their thoughts."

"Even if a teacher says something like 'Think about what you want to become when you're training,' they'll probably just take it as a cliché like 'Treat exams like regular practice.' When they're actually training, they'll still be replaying their mistakes and errors in their minds..."

"The result of this is that a good summoner will often create better cards because they don't waste time on internal conflicts and can focus more on the expected results; a less skilled summoner, if they cannot build confidence, will often get worse because they will keep repeating their mistakes when creating cards..."

Lu Mingfei shook his head.

If he and Luo Tianyi hadn't been such a stark contrast, he probably wouldn't have thought of this step, nor would he have been able to summarize this crucial point.

"Forget it, I need to think about how to pass on this technique for a while longer—perhaps I should think about how to apply this technique to card crafting..."

"It can be applied to how to forge high-level magic cards."

Lu Mingfei fell into deep thought.