Who said this card is outrageous?

Xie Lingyang didn't want to waste words with Jiang Chen, so he directly told him that when he was discussing with Zhang Che how to sell the [Nine-Tailed Fox] for a high price, he noticed that Ah Li's expression had undergone several unnatural changes.

In short, I couldn't hold back anymore.

"If it were truly a card without much independent consciousness, it would be impossible for it to display such lively expressions, especially when discussing topics related to her."

As Xie Lingyang spoke, his tone became noticeably serious. Jiang Chen was increasingly alarmed as he listened, but he still subconsciously retorted that perhaps he had misread the words.

"If you think I'm wrong, then I'm wrong." Xie Lingyang didn't get the slightest bit worked up by Jiang Chen's doubts. He just glanced at him indifferently. "Anyway, I've already told you everything I needed to say. As for how to do it, do whatever makes you happy."

After saying that, the two had already walked quite a distance. Xie Lingyang parted ways with Jiang Chen and his figure quickly disappeared from the latter's sight.

"Purple Card, self-awareness..."

Jiang Chen subconsciously gripped the spatial artifact on his wrist, which contained his strongest trump card, the fourth-tier purple card [Divine Might Warrior].

That was a gift specially prepared by his family three years ago when he advanced to the intermediate-level transcendent at the age of twenty-two.

Purple-quality cards have growth potential, so over the years, Jiang Chen has been able to clearly sense that the [Divine Might Warrior]'s self-awareness has gradually grown.

The two sides have even reached a point where they can communicate normally.

The problem is that [Divine Might Warrior] is a fourth-tier purple card, so such performance is not surprising.

However, the fact that the Nine-Tailed Fox is only a Tier 3 purple card, and that it has a complete human form, is enough to show that Zhang Che's card-making talent has reached a terrifying level.

If it could also possess the same level of self-awareness as a fourth-tier card, that would be truly terrifying!

Jiang Chen was so preoccupied with heavy thoughts that he walked mechanically, completely unaware of the person who was coming to pick him up not far away.

Zhang Che, however, was in no better shape.

Because Ahri has been kidnapped—

Lin Zhaoli appeared in the living room at some point and noticed Ahri's presence immediately.

However, she didn't show any abnormality at first. She just casually tossed Zhang Che a card album and told him that it was given to him by the Adventurers' Guild. It contained dozens of fourth-tier card recipes and a small number of fifth-tier card recipes.

Just as Ah Li curiously leaned over to look at the contents of the card album with Zhang Che, Lin Zhaoli let out a soft "hmm," then pulled her into her arms and began to grope her.

Chapter 286 Unexpected Recognition

"Wait, something's not right!"

"Oh, yes, yes..."

"Wow, this place really is..."

Watching Ahri being touched and stroked by Lin Zhaoli, who was about the same height as her, Zhang Che could only stand by and watch like a helpless husband...

Wait, what is this nonsense again!

Zhang Che quickly dismissed the unexpected plot idea that had suddenly popped into his head.

Putting aside the fact that Ahri doesn't actually have that function, even if she did, Lin Zhaoli, being a girl, doesn't seem to be able to do anything else besides polishing mirrors, so why is she worrying about it?

Moreover, judging from Lin Zhaoli's expression and actions, the other party did not have any messy thoughts and should simply be interested in Ahri.

After a few minutes, Lin Zhaoli finally let go of Ahri, who had been trembling the whole time, and then looked at Zhang Che with a scrutinizing gaze.

"My brother really found a treasure this time. You're quite good." With Zhang Che looking slightly bewildered, Lin Zhaoli dropped a seemingly random remark, then brought up the card album that recorded the card recipes, saying that it was entrusted to Zhang Che by a vice president of the Qi'an City Adventurers' Guild.

"Aunt Lan means she wants to cooperate with you. In the future, the guild can provide the materials, and the final product cards can be split 50/50 among everyone," Lin Zhaoli explained to Zhang Che. "But with your talent, it's not a good thing to waste time on these trivial matters."

"I've made the decision on this. The card book is still yours. As for whether or not to cooperate with the guild, that's up to you."

After saying this, Lin Zhaoli left, leaving Zhang Che and Ah Li standing there looking at each other.

No, what exactly is going on?

Zhang Che was still a bit confused, so he turned his gaze to Ah Li, who was standing to the side, and asked her, as the person involved, what exactly had just happened.

"Well, actually I'm not really sure either..." Ahri said weakly, "She seemed to be examining my body just now, but I clearly don't have a real body..."

Well, now it's a complete mystery!

However, judging from the change in Lin Zhaoli's attitude towards her after that, she probably discovered something important in Ahri.

If Zhang Che's intuition is correct, Lin Zhaoli's previous recognition of him was, strictly speaking, merely an endorsement of her older brother Lin Jiming; her attitude towards him was simply that of a stranger. But now, Lin Zhaoli has personally recognized Zhang Che's abilities.

To this end, he even used his position in the Adventurers' Guild to give Zhang Che a special favor—over thirty fourth-tier card recipes, plus quite a few fifth-tier card recipes. Even though most of the recipes were white and green quality, with very few blue quality ones, it was still a rare and valuable item.

Especially for someone like Zhang Che, who has no backing, no background, and no connections, his value is immeasurable.

You have to understand how much effort he put in before, trading with Su Muxue and building relationships with Xie Lingyang and Jiang Chen, and in the end he only got less than thirty card recipes.

Of course, this refers to fourth-tier recipes; recipes of third tier and below are generally not included.

The only fourth-tier purple card recipe that could be considered overpowered, [Divine Might Warrior], still relied on Lin Zhaoli's powerful connections.

By comparing the two, we can see how much benefit Zhang Che gained this time.

At the same time, he also realized more deeply how wonderful it is to have a powerful figure looking out for you, especially in today's era, where a powerful figure can easily leave behind something that allows someone to save themselves several years of hard work.

Moreover, as Zhang Che's own strength increases in the future, and the extraordinary resources produced on Earth begin to be insufficient to meet his needs, his understanding of this matter will only deepen.

……

Despite his feelings, Zhang Che still had business to attend to. He had to put aside the reason for Lin Zhaoli's inexplicable goodwill and start studying the card recipes recorded in the card album with Ah Li.

The gap between the two sides is too great now. If Lin Zhaoli really has ulterior motives towards Zhang Che, Zhang Che seems to have no better way to deal with it than to lie down and let things take their course.

So the best way is not to worry about these things, so as not to ruin your mental state.

It took Zhang Che about half an hour to finally look up from the card book. Ah Li, who had already turned her attention to other things, quickly came over, looking ready to listen to her master's teachings at any time.

"Pretending to be serious." Zhang Che tapped Ah Li's forehead helplessly, as punishment for her slacking off halfway.

Then he began to organize the card recipes he had just seen on his own—unsurprisingly, a considerable portion of the recipes recorded in the card album overlapped with the recipes he had.

This is not surprising, after all, both Xie Lingyang and Jiang Chen, and even their families, have some degree of cooperation and dependence on the Adventurers' Guild.

The difference is that the Jiang family has that old man, so they are probably more independent. At least in the territory of Qi'an City, they are on par with the adventurers' guild that is in charge of this area.

The relationship between the two sides remains primarily one of cooperation.

Therefore, over the years, with the three parties exchanging resources, knowledge-based resources such as card recipes will inevitably be duplicated.

And the parts that can be directly given to outsiders are actually just the same things over and over again.

Su Muxue belongs to the University Alliance, which is not part of the Adventurers' Guild, so there are basically no duplicate recipes.

However, obtaining the recipe is only the first step in a long journey. There are still many hurdles that Zhang Che needs to overcome before the final product can be transformed into a finished card.

"Phew, I'm not going to be idle for the next while. But that's fine, I don't want to get involved in outside affairs anyway."

With this in mind, Zhang Che and Ah Li returned to their room and began to study the recipes.

After careful consideration, Zhang Che did not simply take the card album for free. Instead, he made a special trip to the Adventurers' Guild, met with the vice president surnamed Lan, and reached a cooperation agreement with him.

She was a beautiful woman who looked to be only in her early forties, and her strength had also reached the sixth level of the extraordinary realm.

Since Lin Zhaoli addresses her as "Aunt Lan," it's highly likely that she also came from the Adventurers' Guild headquarters in the Federal capital.

Unlike the president, whose path to promotion has been completely cut off, this vice president, judging from her age, should only be here to accumulate experience before being transferred back to headquarters when the time is right.

Lan Qiuju was surprised by Zhang Che's arrival, but she didn't show any unusual expression on her face. However, she recalled what Lin Zhaoli had said to her that day.

Chapter 287 They finally found us.

"That Zhang Che has the potential to become a seventh-tier card maker in the future!"

As someone who came from the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, Lan Qiuju naturally knew what Lin Zhaoli's words meant—because strictly speaking, there was no necessary connection between a seventh-tier transcendent and a seventh-tier card maker.

A person who can become a seventh-tier transcendent may not necessarily be able to become a seventh-tier card maker and create seventh-tier cards in the future.

If one's talent is truly insufficient, even the strongest card maker will only reach the sixth rank in their lifetime.

Although Lin Zhaoli only stated that Zhang Che had the potential, and no one could guarantee what the future would hold, it was enough to make Lan Qiuju take him seriously.

On the other side, Zhang Che felt for some reason that Vice President Lan's gaze towards him was a little strange, but there was no malice in it.

However, for the sake of his mission, he had no choice but to suppress his discomfort and begin negotiations with the other party.

The first premise of the cooperation is that the Adventurers' Guild will provide the materials, Zhang Che will be responsible for making the cards, and the final finished cards will be split 50/50 between the two parties.

"After the agreement is signed, the guild will first provide you with ten sets of materials for each recipe to practice, and then we will officially start sharing profits." Lan Qiuju explained the first specific clause of the cooperation to Zhang Che.

"Are there only ten portions?"

“Of course,” Lan Qiuju replied frankly. “Mr. Zhang Che, you are not the guild’s exclusive card maker, so you naturally have to bear a portion of the costs yourself.”

"After all, we are just business partners."

"Alright." Zhang Che didn't continue arguing on this topic.

Moreover, with my current abilities, I should be able to learn the basics of level 4 cards of white and green quality in no time, and ten sets of materials should be enough for practice.

As for those blue-quality cards, his learning efficiency might indeed be a bit slower, but it's not impossible for him to add materials himself later.

However, as long as the cards can be made, everything will be fine.

Then there are some other clauses, most of which are just standard phrases, mainly to prevent disputes in case of unexpected events.

The most important things are actually just two: First, the Adventurers' Guild will set a guaranteed minimum share for each card to prevent Zhang Che from deliberately obscuring the card production.

For example, even though ten sets of materials could produce six cards, he would insist that there were only two. He would then give one card to the Adventurers' Guild and keep the remaining five for himself.

"How about this, for the sake of His Majesty Frost Domain, for every ten sets of materials, the guild will need four white cards, three green cards, and two blue cards."

"If there are any more, Mr. Zhang Che, you can handle them yourself. Of course, if you are willing to sell them to the guild, we will buy them at the market price."

Lan Dongju took the initiative and gave Zhang Che a distribution plan, which he agreed to after a moment's thought.

Aside from newly promoted novice card makers, the success rate of creating blank cards is generally no less than 70%.

With further practice, it's not impossible to achieve a success rate of 90% or even higher.

While a 60% success rate for green cards isn't low, it's not a major problem. At most, Zhang Che will suffer a slight loss, perhaps receiving one or two fewer cards at the beginning.

However, this is not a bad thing for him. Card making is the main way for card makers to improve their strength. Now that someone else is covering the costs, it doesn't matter if he suffers a little loss in the beginning.

Once the success rate of card production increases, he will become the beneficiary.

The same principle applies to blue cards, but in Zhang Che's plan, he probably won't focus too much energy on making those blue cards for the time being.