My Card Beast Taming Game

Three heavily armored giant lice were successfully shot down by the electromagnetic cannon.

The other two were scattered in various places due to the collision with the Netherflame Lion, splashing up a large amount of foul-smelling mud with a thud.

One landed to Lu Qingning's left, while the other was closer to Zhou Chen's location.

"Zhou Chen!"

She instinctively gave a warning, but when she turned her head, she saw a white shadow flash by, heading straight for the giant, armored louse that had fallen to the ground.

It was none other than Zhou Chen's White Ape.

It deftly flipped the giant beetle, which had broken free of its embracing pattern, as if using a crowbar, and then vigorously stabbed at the beetle's mouth like it was using a spear.

Seeing that Zhou Chen was in a safe area and focused on controlling the White Ape, Lu Qingning felt relieved, and the Netherflame Lion that had turned to support him also stopped.

The giant, armored louse that it swatted away had already been disemboweled.

Of the three that were attacked by the electromagnetic cannon, two were not instantly killed because of their thick shells. Han Baobao did not continue firing the cannon, but instead had the electromagnetic cannon scorpion jump down to finish them off.

"Lemon!"

She called on her best friend for help.

Lu Qingning's Netherflame Lion quickly turned its head and pounced on one of them with incredible speed.

Neither of them continued to use skills, prioritizing physical attacks.

This is not surprising, as active skills not only have cooldown times but also deplete a card master's mental energy. For card masters exploring secret realms, it's natural to conserve mental energy as much as possible, saving it for unforeseen circumstances.

Half a minute later, the five carcasses of the giant, armored louse were dragged together.

"You're quite clever."

Lu Qingning glanced at the panting White Ape, "The card switching speed is fast."

Zhou Chen scratched his head and said, "It's not that the water bubble effect didn't come in handy..."

Han Baobao praised, "Zhou Chen, you're amazing for taking down one single-handedly without getting hurt!"

Hua Ning also said, "It is indeed excellent for beginners."

Lu Qingning remained calm. "I told you long ago, he has talent. He's just lazy; his talent is wasted unless someone gives him a push!"

The three women praised Zhou Chen in various ways, making her blush.

After all, he's the weakest here, just a mere accessory.

The armored giant louse and the mud poison toad are both common monsters in the Watery Secret Realm, and they are good at hiding and ambushing.

If a whole team of apprentice card masters like him had come in, they might have been ambushed by them. But as novice card masters trained in the secret realm, Lu Qingning and Han Baobao could hardly hide the small actions of mere bronze-level monsters.

Not to mention that intermediate card master Hua Ning was present.

Although she didn't interfere at all, I believe that if something unusual happened that the two of them hadn't noticed, she would definitely have spoken up to remind them.

Therefore, this journey to the secret realm can be described as a complete dimensional reduction attack.

Unless they change their target and move closer to the middle level to fight the silver-tier monsters there, or the core boss monster revives and a large number of nearby monsters spawn, there is no possibility of failure.

This rendered Zhou Chen's carefully prepared Water Bubble completely useless; it would have been better to bring out the White Ape instead.

Little did he know that this very decision would lead him to discover an unexpected situation—

After he defeated the monsters in the secret realm, the game panel automatically popped up, asking him if he wanted to finish the game!

In that instant, Zhou Chen understood a lot.

What he cares about most now is whether the dungeons provided by the game panel will appear in reality, or whether the dungeons are real-world secret realms that he just hasn't encountered other card players yet.

In fact, Zhou Chen had already guessed this. He searched for it the first time he came out of the dungeon, but he did not find any public dungeons that matched perfectly.

The materials for black-armed gibbons and stone-throwing monkeys sold on the market mostly come from other secret realms.

Could it be a secret realm monopolized by a certain family?

It is rumored that the association allows small secret realms to be privately owned, so the major families of Zhuxia control these small secret realms and continuously extract resources from them to make their clansmen stronger.

Zhou Chen pondered silently without making a settlement.

Settling accounts normally consumes stamina, but it's not worth taking that risk for a mere bronze-tier monster.

In addition, he was curious whether he could still run dungeons and use the group formation function in the secret realm.

Anyway, you can't use team formation in dungeons.

Then, with Lu Qingning's help, he put on the protective suit and gloves for the dissection.

Han Baobao shouted from afar, "Go Zhou Chen!"

Hua Ning smiled and said, "Take your time, don't rush. Just keep an eye on the key materials."

"Once you master this skill, you'll be highly sought after in other teams." Lu Qingning's words were quite realistic.

Zhou Chen took a deep breath through his mask to prepare himself mentally, then took out the axe from his tools and glanced at the anatomy reference book next to him.

The most valuable part of the giant beetle is its outer carapace, an excellent protective material; there's nothing else of value about it.

Despite its large, white pieces of meat, it has a rotten, fishy smell.

Chapter 28: Wiping Out the Squad

Zhou Chen was also quick.

He stubbornly ignored the slime and small insects, and painstakingly dismantled the five giant, armored lice in ten minutes, leaving only a mess of mangled limbs and rotten flesh on the ground.

“It has to be a boy who has the strength,” Hua Ning said with a smile.

Lu Qingning nodded slightly, "To be able to do this well on your first disassembly is indeed impressive; you have talent."

In fact, the difference in physical strength between men and women will narrow as mental strength increases, and a novice card master is definitely stronger than a trainee card master.

Therefore, Zhou Chen took Hua Ning's praise as just a polite gesture.

Lu Qingning...

She constantly proclaims her talent, and Zhou Chen has long been used to it.

After the materials were disassembled, the crucial card-making process began.

Han Baobao laughed and said, "Don't let your cousin have a chance to meet Kao, or she'll catch her bad luck."

"What nonsense! It's pure superstition!" Lu Qingning's face darkened.

She was notoriously unlucky at card making; even with an intact corpse, there were very few successful card-making cases. In the past, when going to intermediate-level secret realms, Han Baobao and Xiao Mei would usually make the cards.

Although the success rate is still abysmal, it's better than her repeated failures.

Zhou Chen skillfully placed his hand on the remains of the giant armored louse, and soon four fresh cards were produced.

He looked at the cards in his hand and nodded slightly; drawing four cards from five monsters was considered a normal performance.

"Luck should be—"

Suddenly, he realized that there had been no sound around him for a long time. When he turned around, he was met with three pairs of surprised eyes.

Han Baobao exclaimed excitedly, "Zhou Chen, you're so lucky! You managed to get four cards from five processed monsters!"

"Thank you..." Zhou Chen scratched his head.

Although this was his first time entering the secret realm, he had been exposed to card making for a long time.

I am indeed luckier than others.

Zhou Chen looked at Lu Qingning, whose expression quickly changed from shock to resentment. "Why are you looking at me? Are you so smug?"

"Of course." He replied instinctively, and then almost got punched by Lu Qingning.

Hua Ning stopped her, amused. "Alright, alright, let's keep going. There haven't been any monsters for so long, the area has probably been cleared out."

The group was only five kilometers away from the outpost, which was extremely close. Encountering these monsters would be like fish escaping the net.

Normal card master teams don't venture too deep into the secret realm. Their activity areas radiate outwards in a fan shape, centered on the outpost, which makes it easy to quickly return to the outpost for supplies.

The exoskeleton of the giant beetle is priced by weight, around 100 yuan per kilogram after tax. Five beetles would yield approximately 450 kilograms, or 45,000 yuan. The cards made from them are worth 30,000 yuan each, totaling nearly 170,000 yuan.

From the time they entered the secret realm until now, the total time has only been a little over half an hour. Most importantly, these materials can be sold.

No matter how many monsters you kill or how many cards you craft in the dungeon, there's nowhere to sell them, unlike now when you go to the secret realm with Lu Qingning and the others to fight monsters, you can sell them as soon as you leave.

Before entering, they agreed to divide the spoils proportionally: Zhou Chen would get 20%, Lu Qingning and Han Baobao would each get 40%, and Hua Ning, as an intermediate card master, wouldn't care about such a small amount of profit.

To be honest, it's already a lot for him to take 20%. It wouldn't matter if Lu Qingning didn't give him 10%. You have to pay for a junior card master to help you experience the secret realm, not to mention that there are intermediate card masters involved.

The group set off again, and Zhou Chen released the White Ape from his summons.

Its movement speed is not as fast as the Darkflame Lion or the Electromagnetic Cannon Scorpion, and it is impossible to let it ride one of the two, so recycling is the best option.

Anyway, there's no way to rely on it to deal with monster attacks.

It's not that the white ape is incompetent, it's that Zhou Chen, who is controlling it, doesn't have the reaction speed.

During the journey, Lu Qingning, who was in the back seat, suddenly said, "I'll leave you a monster to fight one-on-one later."

"it is good!"

Zhou Chen was naturally eager to practice real combat, which meant focusing on efficiency when running dungeons. In addition, Captain Changming killed too quickly, otherwise he would have started practicing long ago.

It's not too late to start practicing now.

The group headed east and saw a thick gray fog rising from the forest in the distance.

"It's boundary fog; we've reached the very edge," Lu Qingning warned.

The secret realm has a misty edge that card masters often cannot cross to reach other places. No matter which direction they go, they will return the way they came.

Meanwhile, monsters appear less frequently and in smaller numbers at the edge of the secret realm, making it a relatively safe area. Some weaker teams will choose to hunt monsters at the edge of the boundary fog.

Zhou Chen and his group encountered a five-person team. The two sides didn't exchange much, just glanced at each other from a distance and then parted ways.

Following the Mud Toad and the Armored Giant Lice, they soon encountered a third type of monster commonly found in the aquatic realm—

Miasma demon.

This is a pale green humanoid figure formed from dense miasma and marsh gas; contact with it will cause poisoning, making it extremely dangerous for card masters.

Upon discovering this, Lu Qingning immediately asked Zhou Chen to check the seal of the mask. Only after confirming that there was no problem did she dispatch the Netherflame Lion to launch a remote fire-breathing attack.

Unfortunately, the miasma demons explode the moment they touch the flames, and the area affected is extremely large, leaving no trace of their physical tissues. Few people are willing to provoke them, as they would only feel that it is not worth the risk.

After the smoke from the explosion cleared, Zhou Chen and the others cautiously approached the epicenter, only to find nothing, as expected.

"What a pity. With Zhou Chen's luck, he might have been able to make a card if he had kept a core," Han Baobao said regretfully.

The Miasma Demon isn't a particularly strong card, but due to its rarity, it commands a market price of up to 80,000, far exceeding that of the Armored Giant Lice and the Mud Toad.

Zhou Chen also felt it was a pity. He was desperately short of money; he could only get 16,000 yuan out of an 80,000 yuan card.

That's enough to buy quite a few energy-boosting liquids!

Not long after they set off again, Hua Ning suddenly spoke up: "It seems that someone was already harmed by the miasma demon before us."

All three were startled. Then Lu Qingning was the first to notice that several card masters were lying under a tree, half of their bodies buried in the mud, and covered with leeches and other small insects.

Without hesitation, she immediately sent the Netherflame Lion to investigate.

The team had clearly been attacked by miasma demons; three of them were in a deep coma, while the other two were barely conscious.

After the Netherflame Lion dragged them out of the mud, Zhou Chen quickly summoned Water Bubble Shadow, using his skill to remove the damage caused by the miasma and shake off the small insects stuck to them.

But he soon discovered that the miasma was not completely dispelled; mild cases could be recovered from, but severe cases were beyond his control.

Does this mean it's no longer considered an abnormal state?

It's more likely that they lack the strength.

He quickly accepted this, but suddenly a golden light shone down on him, falling on the poisoned people and quickly easing their pained expressions.

The disgusting insects also retreated.

It's Hua Ning's card.

The little figures hidden among the light purple flowers shook the stamens, scattering golden pollen.

Noticing Zhou Chen's gaze, Hua Ning smiled and asked, "Do you recognize this flower?"

Of course I know it, because it's very famous.