The Card Apprentice

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Peach-colored energy blades were zipping about like falling petals, hovering about Wei-ah. The silent energy blades went about in cohesion like rain droplets in the wind as the Bronze Masked Man mumbled.

Wei-ah's expression turned even colder and he became shrouded in a cold aura. If Chen Mu was able to see Wei-ah's current expression, he would have been very surprised to see that Wei-ah had a rarely seen serious look on his face.

Wei-ah did not underestimate the energy blades which were only about the size of a fingernail. He had instead been able to sense the lethality within those tiny blades!

He moved before the Bronze-Masked Man said anything! He lifted his right hand, which had been dangling by his side all the while, to his chest, and shook it like the string of a bow!

Shoop!

A formless air wavy blade shot out from his hand, streaking at the Bronze-Masked Man with a sharp noise!

The Bronze-Masked Man focused and glared. No energy fluctuations! He had by then lost count of how many times he had been surprised on that day. His opponent's powers were way above his expectation. The stone-cold man before him was indeed a master of the cardless sect. No, he's the most powerful ace of the cardless sect!

However, the cardless sect had fallen into obscurity for hundreds of years. If he had not witnessed such a man in action personally, he would not have believed that a member of the cardless sect with such prowess existed in the world!

He had seen Qiao Yuan used that move before. As the battle between Qiao Yuan and the duo: Jin Yin and Dang Han became the talk of the city, that move had became a legendary move for all practitioners of the cardless sect, and was named by many as the Air Slash. It was also currently the only move that enabled a cardless sect practitioner to execute a ranged attack without use of a weapon!

Although he had seen Qiao Yuan used the move before, he came to have an entirely different feeling about it when he found himself on the receiving end of the move. No energy fluctuations of any kind! If they were not being shrouded within the area of effect of 'Flower Rain', which heightened his senses to the extreme, he probably would not have been able to react in time. In comparison to Qiao Yuan's strained looks back then, the mysterious man before him looked completely composed and all that seemed so effortless for the man.

However, the Bronze-Masked Man was still a true master who had been where he was after fighting countless battles. While he was surprised by Wei-ah's powers, he did not come to fear his opponent!

Furthermore, 'Flower World' isn't that flimsy!

The air wavy blade was suddenly being covered lightly by a rain of flowers before it was able to leave the area. The rain of flowers seemed like a soft yet resilient web, wrapping up the intensely sharp air wavy blade. The dancing rain of flowers in the air would have confused any watching bystanders.

The bunched up rain of flowers dispersed as quickly as the petals huddled, as if they were a group of playful fairies, getting away from each other as soon as they have gotten near to each other. The air wavy blade that was being wrapped up was nowhere to be seen.

Wei-ah's expression did not flinch, as if he was not in the least bit surprised of what happened. His movement speed of his legs grew, making him seem to appear and disappear out of nowhere within the Flower World.

The petal-like energy blades were incapable of fast attacks, but what they lacked in speed was compensated by their sheer numbers!

Tens of gashes were seen all over Wei-ah's clothes. His combat suit had been turned into torn rags, making him look rather awkward. Every single tiny petal was immensely sharp, capable of cutting flesh easily!

Wei-ah's speed grew increasingly fast, but his predicament turned increasingly worse instead! The petals around closed in on him from all directions. Despite Wei-ah's zigzag movements, he was still incapable of shaking himself off the petals, and the room where he was capable of evading the petals shrunk continuously.

The Bronze-Masked Man did not look pleased at all, as if the battle was meant to be such in the first place.

That move had never failed the Bronze-Masked Man in battle ever. He had basically won the fight when he came to use that move.

Every single energy blade within 'Flower Word' was interconnected with each other. Sensory threads were woven all over the realm of dancing, flying petals. The Bronze-Masked Man was a like a spider, spinning his web everywhere in the 'Flower World', enabling him to sense everything happening within its area-of-effect! That Air Slash earlier had dissipated due to having been cut up by the tiny petals for over a thousand times.

And this time, the target he pointed at was none other than Wei-ah!

8600 peach-colored petals practically caged Wei-ah from all directions, all of which would have then closed in at the center from every single angle! Not even power shields would have been able to block 8600 impacts, and worse still, cardless sect members did not even have power shields.

He's done for! The Bronze-Masked Man looked increasingly sure of himself as he watched Wei-ah zigzagging about within to evade the petals and attempt to break the 'Flower World'.

Time's up! A sinister smile appeared beneath his mask as he clicked his thumb with his index finger.

Ding!

A crisp clear ring of the bell was heard and the Bronze-Masked Man's eye looked stern as he called with a low voice, "Flower World Dead Snow!"

The fleeting Flower World turned all of a sudden! The dreamy peach-colored state lost its color as it turned completely snow-white. Every single peach-colored petal turned white, making them look like falling snowflakes from afar. Spring passed and winter arrived. The Flower World was no longer in the warm gentle mood of spring; it turned unnerving sharp and cold.

The flower petals' lazy movements were nowhere to be found. The clean, pure snowflake-like energy blades began to accelerate as they spun in a frenzy.

Wooooo!

Countless howls of blades gathered, as if a blizzard was being whipped up!

And Wei-ah, was caught in the middle of the blizzard.

Sshhhh!

Wei-ah's clothes were disintegrated at frightening speed. The cut and torn fabrics were quickly caught in the air to be torn into even smaller pieces within an instant. Streaks of blood began appearing on Wei-ah's exposed skin. While the gashes were not deep, the crisscrossing streaks in huge numbers still made it a unnerving scene to behold.

Wei-ah was injured.

Chen Mu was able to see the blood on Wei-ah's face from the corner of his eye, and he was dumbfounded for a moment! He had never thought that even Wei-ah would have been injured in a fight. In his impression, he had never known Wei-ah to be capable of losing nor sustaining injuries, an inhuman who seemed to be immune to death!

But now, Wei-ah is injured! Chen Mu's eyes became bloodshot and he wanted more than anything to rescue Wei-ah, who had odds being stacked against him!

A lone, fleeting man stood all of a sudden within the lethal blizzard!

So you quit trying to evade now? Are you being despaired? Are you giving up already?

A cold smirk were seen in the Bronze-Masked Man's eyes. He had seen too many card artisans like that! More often than not, people would lose the courage to fight before absolute power.

The lone standing Wei-ah immediately became the very target of the snow-white energy blades. Wei-ah looked to be in shambles within the snowy field.

Chen Mu, who was prepared to rescue Wei-ah, stopped as he looked at Wei-ah's eyes. That uncaring eyes opened slightly wider than they usually were while tiny blood streaks were seen on his face. Chen Mu ceased worrying all of a sudden.

He knew that Wei-ah was getting ready to retaliate.

The strength of his opponent was beginning to make Wei-ah, who usually had a deadpan look about him, excited.

The fight between two top class masters briefly stunned all of the other card artisans present. The Bronze-Masked Man's raging waves-like perception terrorized the nerves of everyone present. From the dreamy, spring-like 'Flower World' to the brutal, unforgiving 'Flower World Dead Snow' that followed, all of those were killing moves worthy of worship. The scene tugged violently at the heartstrings. They had never seen him using such moves ever before.

'Hmph!'

Wei-ah snorted hard and his eyes, which were always calm like a lake, sparkled violently! He pointed on the ground lightly and his body appeared in midair. He paid no heed at all to all those gashes brought about snowflake blades. Wei-ah's body in midair seemed like a bow. He hunched slightly, bending his elbows as he clenched his fists and put them before his chest, while his legs were half-bent.

His pupils dilated all of a sudden!

His body in midair turned hazy and dissipated into a shadow. Chen Mu, who had been watching all the while from the sides, had his eyes opened wide and he almost tripped. Just what…

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Air bullets shot out from around Wei-ah like violent explosions. The airwaves clashed head on with the snowflakes around him. The airwaves were not as sharp and quick as the Air Slash that he pulled earlier, but every single wave felt like cannonballs leaving the barrel, bringing immense power and impact to bear!

Wei-ah had only taught Chen Mu the Air Slash and Chen Mu thought that was all Wei-ah knew. But the shadow he saw in the air made him understand that the Air Slash was but a common trick for Wei-ah!

Every single punch that Wei-ah lashed out at the air had a firm, explosive boom. Every single kick made the same crisp clear sound!

The blurry shadow was but an effect brought about by Wei-ah's insane speed at punching and kicking! The moves, which enabled him to launch air bullets at the same time, were utterly against the human's body structure. Furthermore, Chen Mu's arm had actually cracked before from being to handle the immense strain of using the Air Slash even once.

Wei-ah…he really does have an inhuman body!

Air bullets landed heavily at the blizzard around Wei-ah, as if he had thrown one bomb after another at the blizzard around him.

The Bronze-Masked Man was completely stunned. He was looking at Wei-ah with eyes suggesting that he was looking at an alien. The Air Slash was still deemed within means to deal with using the energy blades, but the near-solid air bullets were far more difficult to intercept than that thin Air Slash before!

An air bullet needed multiple cuts to dissipate!

The Bronze-Masked Man dared not let any one of those air bullets hit him! His body as a card artisan was nothing like that insane inhuman before him. He knew the power and impact of those air bullets better than anyone. Every single snowflake was made to move even faster and they turned into a terrifying web of killing snowflakes! Wei-ah was the middle of the web and no snowflake was actually able to get near him.

Both sides were at a stalemate.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The explosions were happening so frequently that it dazed anyone who heard them. That, coupled with the whirling howl of the snowflakes spinning about in high speed made a frustrating noise like no other.

However, both of them, who were doing battle, did not seemed affected at all. None of them seemed to slow down in the slightest.

The Bronze-Masked Man gave it his all to intercept the air bullets using the web formed of countless flying snowflakes, while Wei-ah continued to blast the web in a frenzy with his air bullets!

Chen Mu's attention returned to the battle as he confirmed that Wei-ah was able to handle the situation.

The extravagant battle between the two masters shook the minds of everyone who watched. Many card artisans looked on with dazed eyes.

Chen Mu, who was the first to react to the situation, saw an opening he was able to exploit!