My Card Beast Taming Game

Lu Qingning suppressed her anger and said, "Many supplements are for people over thirty years old. Their recovery ability is much worse than that of people around twenty years old. These supplements can help them close the gap with younger card masters."

She paused, then said, "Return what you can, and give me what you can't return, and I'll help you sell it."

"Oh, I haven't even started eating yet, you can return it all."

Zhou Chen lied and then asked, "So it's completely useless for someone my age?"

Once she regained her composure, Lu Qingning said, "There is, but the cost-effectiveness is extremely low. It's far better to switch to monster meat. The apprenticeship stage is crucial. Your money should be spent wisely, not on the back or handle of the knife."

As long as it works.

Zhou Chen nodded and decided to return the product targeting physical growth and keep the product for restoring energy.

Through this experience, he also realized that even if information on the internet has been verified by multiple parties and endorsed by celebrities, it may not be true.

Taking things out of context is everywhere.

For example, this supplement, do you think it's effective for young people? Yes, it is.

How effective? That's none of your concern.

Having learned his lesson, Zhou Chen practiced with Lu Qingning for another afternoon before returning home exhausted.

Looking at Captain Changming pacing in the courtyard, and thinking about having to run dungeons after dinner, he almost had the urge to die.

So tired! I want to set it up!

I'm starting to feel like I can't keep going!

Zhou Chen sat in the courtyard, thinking that if he could have a better background, why bother torturing himself?

But then I thought, if it weren't for my current situation, how could I secretly improve my game progress without anyone noticing?

"Hehehe..."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "You can't have everything."

Keep it up! Keep trying!

A flame of hope ignited in Zhou Chen's eyes. After finishing his meal, he immediately went to a dungeon with Captain Changming, and then emerged half-dead.

By the time I recovered enough to run a dungeon again in the early morning, I was half-dead and came back exhausted.

Then he slept until morning, had breakfast with Lu Qingning, and went to the club to practice. During his free time, he was forced to read a lot of spirit cards and monster illustrations, and even memorize them carefully.

I did the same thing when I got back in the evening.

Zhou Chen spent four days like this, and the experience from the intermediate dungeon also raised him to Lv.8, bringing him closer and closer to the agreed time to go to the secret realm.

But unsurprisingly, another unexpected problem arose.

Lu Qingning was in a bad mood that day, and Zhou Chen was scolded all day long, which he didn't understand.

So he asked Lu Qingning's best friend, Han Baobao, for her contact information.

Han Baobao was reluctant to say it, but considering that Zhou Chen would find out sooner or later, she explained the whole story.

Just as things were about to get close, the fifth teammate, the one Lu Qingning called Xiao Mei, didn't show up.

It doesn't matter if they don't come; the important thing is that we're going to the secret realm tomorrow.

If they suddenly change their minds, where can they find teammates?

As for why she changed her mind, Han Baobao said that the person went to the team of her crush.

This?

Zhou Chen thought to himself that tomorrow's plans might have to be canceled.

It's easy to find people who want to go to the secret realm, but it's hard to find people you can trust with your back. The secret realm is fraught with danger, and no one knows what might happen.

In fact, there were some things Han Baobao didn't say.

For example, Lu Qingning and Xiao Mei had a big argument. Lu Qingning accused Xiao Mei of breaking her promise, while Xiao Mei retorted that only Lu Qingning could help others, and she couldn't.

But this isn't a question of whether or not to help.

Han Baobao tried to smooth things over by suggesting that the two teams merge into one, but Xiao Mei refused, as she was going to a medium-sized secret realm, and the two teams were on different routes.

The two sides talked for almost half an hour but still couldn't reach an agreement, and eventually parted on bad terms.

Lu Qingning's subsequent investigation revealed that the team had suddenly suffered a loss of members, making it unable to meet the requirements for entering the medium-sized secret realm.

Therefore, Xiaomei's crush tried to invite her, and the invitation was accepted immediately.

Lu Qingning was furious, and Zhou Chen suffered an undeserved disaster because of it.

When asked if he would go to the secret realm again tomorrow, Han Baobao's answer was just one word—

"go!"

The next day.

Zhou Chen, fully equipped with his new gear, stood at the door of Lu Qingning's house.

Lu Qingning, who had a mouthful of soy milk, almost spat it out and laughed, "Aren't you hot dressed like that?"

"What's the problem?"

Zhou Chen looked at himself.

He spent a lot of money to buy a complete set of camouflage clothing, including a helmet, goggles, and a dust mask.

Lu Qingning smiled and glanced at them, saying, "No problem, but all your clothes can be bought near the secret realm, and you won't need most of them."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! Different secret realms have different needs, hmm... it'll do alright for dealing with the Water Marsh Secret Realm."

She spoke while laughing, making Zhou Chen feel rather awkward.

The two quickly finished eating and arrived at the village entrance. Zhou Chen instinctively wanted to hail a taxi, but she stopped him, saying, "Sister Hua said she'd come to pick us up."

"Oh."

He nodded and put his phone away.

Before long, a full-size SUV pulled up, and the driver's side window rolled down, revealing Hua Ning's stunning face.

"Oh, is our little cousin going to war?"

The rear window then rolled down; it was Han Baobao.

She smiled and said, "Zhou Chen, are you hot? Come in and enjoy the air conditioning."

The three women, some showing concern and others teasing, made Zhou Chen blush, unsure whether it was from their jokes or from the sheer heat.

He proactively went around to the passenger seat, and immediately felt the refreshing coolness from the car's air conditioning after opening the door. "Whoosh..."

"You'd better take your clothes off quickly, or you'll get heatstroke before you even enter the secret realm," Hua Ning laughed uncontrollably.

Zhou Chen did as instructed, and seeing that there were only two people in the car, asked, "Is it just the four of us?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Qingning, who had been smiling just moments before, instantly fell silent. "Yes! Just the four of us! You have a problem with that?"

Zhou Chen: "But four people aren't..."

"We'll team up with other groups and then separate once we get inside," Hua Ning explained with a faint smile.

There's a saying: "When there are policies from above, there are countermeasures from below."

The minimum requirement for entering a large-scale secret realm is five people, but there is no upper limit on the number of people.

This also leads many card masters who can't find teammates to choose to team up with other groups to enter the secret realm, at the cost of not caring about life or death and not blaming each other.

Chapter 24: The Nexus of the Secret Realm

"Row."

Zhou Chen nodded to indicate that he understood.

The SUV drove on the city roads, heading towards the other side of the city.

The entrance to the secret realm often appears randomly in a certain place, which may be in the city center, or in an unknown underground place, or even on the vast ocean.

The entrance to the Water Marsh Secret Realm in Maple City is located in the northeast corner of Maple City. It used to be a high-rise residential area under development, but suddenly a large secret realm appeared there, and countless monsters rushed out of the entrance and ravaged the streets.

Despite the association's timely response, hundreds of innocent lives were tragically lost.

As the card masters counterattacked the secret realm, the increasing number of powerful monsters made them realize that this was a large secret realm.

To secure this entrance to the secret realm and search for other possible entrances, the association rehired its former president to oversee the front lines of the safe zone, ultimately successfully defeating the lord monster deep within the realm.

Once the boss monster in the secret realm dies, it will not reappear for a long time, and the number of monsters spawning in the secret realm will also be greatly reduced, entering a long period of stagnation.

The internet refers to this as the end of the initial exploration phase, when card players can now hunt monsters and acquire various resources in a relatively safe manner.

Today, the entrance to the Watery Secret Realm is bustling with visitors.

Large-scale dungeons are often the most crowded areas. Even though most low-level card players would pragmatically consider small and medium-sized dungeons, they still mainly focus their activities on large-scale dungeons.

Just then, card masters, rarely seen in public, gathered here, summoning all sorts of spirit cards to flaunt their power. Traffic was congested, and it took a long time for everyone to finally manage to turn into a parking lot.

Compared to the congestion on the outskirts, this parking lot is not only spacious, but the parking spaces are also ridiculously wide.

This is clearly not a place for ordinary card players.

The group got out of the car and followed the signs to an entrance to the underground area, where a more bustling world immediately came into Zhou Chen's view.

Lu Qingning patiently introduced the underground commercial area to him.

It is clearly visible that the facility is fully equipped with infrastructure, including restaurants, hotels, spirit card shops, gyms, and monster material recycling stations.

Zhou Chen knew this place. Normally, after becoming a card master, he should have chosen to rent a house nearby to distinguish himself from ordinary people, just like other card masters.

However, the presence of the game panel made it difficult for him to do so.

After all, apart from himself and Lu Qingning, very few card masters would set foot in that area.

Here...

It's just that it's not very convenient for him to flexibly summon the Long-Horned Captain to go into dungeons.

In short, card masters all revolve around secret realms. The larger the secret realm, the more card masters there are nearby, and the higher the property prices are. The Water Marsh Secret Realm has already seen prices skyrocket.

Hua Ning led them straight to an equipment shop on the second basement floor, where she had already ordered the necessary supplies.

"My little cousin just needs to change his shoes."

The watery and muddy soil of the secret realm is often complex, with shallow beaches and swamps. It is also home to disgusting insects such as leeches and flying mosquitoes, so special shoes and socks are needed to prevent being attacked.

"Let's exchange them together for something more suitable."

Zhou Chen discovered that Hua Ning's pre-ordered equipment was better, so he immediately carried it to the changing room.

Hua Ning was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "He's quite enthusiastic."

"Of course."

Lu Qingning pouted. She had heard her grandmother say that even after Zhou Chen became a card master, he basically never went out. However, he hadn't missed a single training session these past few days and hadn't said he was giving up at all.

She had planned out how to strongly encourage him, but it never came in handy.

Inside the changing room.

After Zhou Chen took off his clothes, he found a gray-brown lining in his new gear, which felt very resilient.

"Protective suits?"

He realized what it was.

Protective suits are essential items for many adventurers in secret realms, possessing functions such as impact resistance, fire resistance, and corrosion resistance, and are priced according to different levels of effectiveness.

The minimum cost is at least 200,000 to 300,000.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Chen put it on anyway; there was no need to skimp on something that would save his life.

After he finished dressing and left the changing room, Hua Ning and the other two had been waiting for a long time. He stepped forward and said, "Sister Hua, that protective suit—"

"This is a gift to congratulate you on your first time entering the secret realm." Hua Ning smiled slightly and added, "I failed to keep my promise to protect you last time, so consider this my apology."

Zhou Chen opened his mouth, but was struck hard on the back again by Lu Qingning, "Take it if I give it to you!"

"……Row."

He could only nod.