Who said this card is outrageous?

At the same time, Shen Yan's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

Chapter 10 is mine! (Please read on!!)

Shen Yan is a "scholar," a support-oriented supernatural profession. He specializes in mental perception and information processing. Although his combat power is average, he is exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations in mental power.

Therefore, he could clearly sense that the seemingly ordinary young man opposite him was emanating a strong spiritual energy fluctuation, which was already close to the third level.

He's even a bit stronger than him.

Shen Yan glanced at Zhou Meng beside him without making a sound, then quickly looked away, his expression remaining unchanged.

At this moment, Zhou Meng also noticed the strangeness on Zhang Che. Although he didn't think before he spoke, he was still a second-tier combat professional and had basic perception abilities.

As soon as Zhang Che's spiritual energy fluctuations appeared, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

In an instant, Zhou Meng's expression changed visibly, and his previous nonchalant demeanor became much more subdued.

"Ahem..." He cleared his throat and changed his tone, "Well, brother, actually..."

He scratched his head, seemingly organizing his thoughts: "If you really want to keep that picture book, there is a way."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Che abruptly raised his head, his impending outburst of emotion immediately subsiding: "What method?"

"Just pass the second-tier card maker exam, and that's it," Zhou Meng said matter-of-factly. "After you get the qualification, go to the guild and apply for a new book. Then, whatever you have, whether you say it's your master's keepsake or something you find convenient, you can keep it legitimately, right?"

After hearing this, Zhang Che fell silent for a moment.

He knew his own situation better than anyone else, so he never dared to approach the more professional card makers in the Adventurers' Guild, lest he be discovered to be suspicious.

But there's no time to worry about that now.

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated and immediately took out the [Six-Tailed] card and infused it with his spiritual power.

A pale blue light shone in the center of the living room, and an exquisite magic circle slowly unfolded, revealing the little fox once again.

"Meow~~"

As soon as Liuwei appeared, it habitually ran to Zhang Che's feet and rubbed against them, then turned around and curiously looked at the two strangers in the living room.

This left Shen Yan and Zhou Meng completely stunned.

A Tier 2 Blue Card!

And it's a summoning card!

Based on the strength of Zhang Che's mental power that he had just demonstrated, the two were now convinced that he had made the card.

Doesn't that mean this young man's card-making skills are even better than his master's?

Zhou Meng's expression changed from surprise to eagerness, with an added touch of embarrassment.

He had just called the other person a "lazy bum" to their face, but he was immediately proven wrong.

"Brother, you should have said you had this skill earlier!" Zhou Meng slapped his thigh and moved closer to Zhang Che, his smile genuinely sincere: "If you can make second-tier blue cards, then leave it to me! As long as you get the second-tier card maker qualification from the guild, I'll handle the rest of the paperwork for you, and I guarantee that your master's card book will stay safely in your hands!"

Zhang Che looked at the guy whose attitude had changed so drastically and felt a little contemptuous. However, he thought that as long as he could keep his master's belongings, none of that mattered.

"Thank you very much, Brother Zhou." He nodded, his tone still quite polite.

Zhou Meng quickly waved his hand: "No need to thank me, it's nothing!"

However, at this moment, Shen Yan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Wait a minute."

His voice wasn't loud, but his tone carried an undeniable seriousness.

Zhang Che and Zhou Meng both looked at him at the same time.

Shen Yan pushed up his glasses, his face still bearing that faint smile, but his words made Zhang Che's heart sink: "That's against the rules."

"The catalog was rented by Mr. Cheng Shu. According to the guild's charter, since he has passed away, we must take it back today to hand it over."

He looked at Zhang Che, his tone resolute: "Even if you can now create second-tier blue cards, you must first pass the guild's assessment before you can receive your own booklet. This process cannot be skipped."

Zhang Che's expression was rather unpleasant.

Zhou Meng, standing nearby, grew impatient: "Old Shen, why are you so inflexible? It's not like they're incompetent. Would it kill you to be a little more accommodating?"

Shen Yan didn't respond, but just looked at Zhang Che quietly, his expression showing no sign of softening.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhou Meng stood up from the sofa and said, "Alright, alright, I'll take charge of this!"

"Brother Zhang Che, just go and take the exam with peace of mind. Leave the rest to me. Even if the guild holds me accountable in the future, I will take full responsibility!"

He patted Zhang Che on the shoulder, giving off an air of "I'm in charge, listen to me."

Shen Yan glanced at Zhou Meng, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally sighed: "Whatever you want."

There was a hint of helplessness in his voice, but he didn't insist any further.

Zhou Meng immediately beamed, grabbed Shen Yan, and turned to leave, saying, "Alright, let's not waste their time."

Zhang Che got up and saw the two out.

As he reached the door, Zhou Meng turned back and added, "Hurry up, don't delay too long."

Zhang Che nodded, and his gaze toward Zhou Meng now held a hint of goodwill.

He didn't close the door until the two figures disappeared around the street corner, and let out a long breath.

……

On the other side, after leaving the alley, Zhou Meng finally dropped his carefree demeanor and looked at his companion with some confusion: "Old Shen, you're usually not one to be inflexible, why are you being so serious today?"

"If you hadn't left just now, I think Brother Zhang Che would have unleashed a fox to bite you."

Shen Yan smiled, ignoring Zhou Meng's threatening words: "I'm participating in the outstanding employee selection this year, so I need to pay more attention to the work procedures and not let anyone find fault with me."

Zhou Meng paused for a moment, then looked like he had just realized something: "An outstanding employee, huh? That makes sense."

But after the two continued walking for a while, Zhou Meng suddenly stopped, his expression turning strange: "Something's not right, Lao Shen."

Shen Yan kept walking: "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you just win the Outstanding Employee award last year?" Zhou Meng caught up with him, looking at him suspiciously. "The guild rules state that Outstanding Employees can't be nominated consecutively. You're not even eligible to participate this year. You'll have to wait until next year, right?"

Shen Yan paused, but his expression remained calm: "Oh, is that so? Sorry, I forgot."

Zhou Meng: "..."

He stared at the other person for a long time, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In the end, all I could do was roll my eyes and mutter, "How could you forget something like this?"

Shen Yan didn't reply, but continued walking forward with the other person, the upturn of his lips slightly wider than before.

Chapter 11 Little Fishman? [Tidal Spirit]!

After seeing Shen Yan and Zhou Meng off, Zhang Che closed the door and returned to the living room, slumping heavily into the sofa.

However, although the body was relaxed, the mind never stopped:

Just a moment ago, another Zhang Che's will, driven by anger, took over and actually revealed the Six-Tails in front of two strangers.

Everything happened too fast; by the time he calmed down, it was too late to take it all back.

Strictly speaking, there's nothing wrong with that, since every Zhang Che is still himself. His main concern is that if he doesn't find a way to control this impulse, and someone discovers his mental abnormality, he might be exploited by malicious individuals.

Moreover, the timing of this demonstration was indeed not ideal.

Six months ago, the original owner barely passed the first-tier card maker exam. At that time, even making a first-tier green card was difficult. The examiners' comments were all polite words like "average talent, but hardworking."

However, this same person suddenly became able to manually create second-tier blue cards six months later.

Who would believe such a thing if I told them?

Zhou Meng, that kind of reckless guy, is easy to fool, but Shen Yan…

Zhang Che felt even more uneasy when he recalled the bespectacled man who always had a faint smile on his face.

That guy was polite on the surface, but in reality, he was more cunning than a hornet's nest.

I didn't pay attention when my mental energy was surging and my emotions were too agitated. Now that I've calmed down and thought about it, Shen Yan's last words about "not following the rules" were probably not really meant to be serious. Rather, he wanted to give Zhou Meng a chance to perform and make up for the bad impression he had made on me at the beginning due to Zhou Meng's careless words.

After figuring this out, Zhang Che became even more annoyed.

How simple-minded can someone be who's still thinking about making amends for their comrades in that kind of situation? They'll probably start investigating his file once they get back to the guild.

"Ugh--"

Zhang Che sighed and buried his face in his hands.

He knows his own family best; the powerful mental strength he possesses now is entirely a benefit brought about by the fusion of memories from two lifetimes.

However, this gift is limited, so he thought he should quickly monetize the talent he had already shown, attract the attention of some powerful forces, and see if he could get some resources to enhance his mental strength.

Binhai University was his best option at the moment, but now his plans have been completely disrupted.

"Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it." Zhang Che rubbed his face vigorously and sat up from the sofa. "Since we've already been exposed, we might as well just get the qualification of a second-tier card maker."

If I can shine in the assessment and gain the attention of the Adventurers' Guild, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Anyway, as long as I can achieve my goal, I don't care which path I take.

The only problem now is that the exam questions for lower-level card makers are mostly public-version cards, with little to no confidentiality. So, someone will be proctoring the exam to prevent them from cheating using fusion abilities, forcing them to rely on their actual skills.

However, his actual skills are indeed not yet strong enough...

"As for making a second-tier blue card, my total mental energy is definitely enough." Zhang Che looked at his hands and muttered to himself, "The difficulty lies in the precise control during the forging process."

The creation of green and white cards is relatively simple; you just need to put the materials into the card embryo one by one and continuously and steadily input mental energy.

At the Blue Card level, not only are the alchemical patterns on the card embryo more complex, but the refining process also requires outputting different intensities of mental energy based on the characteristics of different materials.

To draw an analogy, white and green cards are like cooking instant noodles: just throw in the noodles and seasoning packet when the water boils, and be careful not to overcook them. Blue cards, on the other hand, are like stir-frying a proper dish: you have to manually control the heat and seasoning, and even with a standard recipe to refer to, there's a high chance of messing it up.

Zhang Che's current problem is that he has enough total mental energy, enough to make three to five at a time, but his fine control is relatively poor.

"Sigh, I've shot myself in the foot..." He now regrets revealing his ability to create second-tier blue cards so early, which has made him set his sights too high and made it difficult to put his plans into practice.

But it was too late for regrets now; he could only grit his teeth and keep going.

……

The promised Tier 2 blue card for Yu Renjia still needs to be made; it must be either ice or water type, and preferably a summoning card.

That's not difficult. Binhai City is close to the sea, and water-related extraordinary materials are everywhere. On the other hand, ice-related materials were used up quite a bit when making the fusion material for the [Six-Tailed Fox] last time, so I had to give up.