Super Warriors: Battle with Cards

Lesson Five Strange One-Star Energy Card

Upon hearing Left Pavilion Robe's soft sigh, Jia Zilin, who was already feeling a bit heavy-eyed, reluctantly opened his eyes, tidied himself up, and seeing that his hair was not messy, cleared his throat and asked, "What's wrong, Tingyi?"

Left Pavilion Robe paid no attention, staring blankly at the card in his hand.

Jia Zilin furrowed his brows slightly, raising his voice with a hint of displeasure, "Tingyi, what's the matter?"

Only then did Left Pavilion Robe react, quickly turning around. "Teacher, there's something strange about this card."

"Strange? What's strange?" Jia Zilin asked somewhat puzzled.

Left Pavilion Robe hurriedly brought the one-star energy card in his hand to the teacher's desk. "It's this card, this card... this card..."

He was considering how to phrase it.

What's wrong with him today? Jia Zilin slightly furrowed his brows. Left Pavilion Robe was usually decisive and straightforward, never beating around the bush. Jia Zilin directly said, "Let me see."

Taking the card from Left Pavilion Robe's hand, a one-star energy card, what could be so surprising about it? Jia Zilin was somewhat dismissive, but he still glanced at the one-star energy card.

"Huh!"

He suddenly sat up straight, the previous expression of indifference disappearing instantly, replaced by a look of intense seriousness.

"Indeed, it's a bit strange," Jia Zilin murmured to himself, staring intently at the one-star energy card in his hand. Even though he was a senior card maker at the Dongwei Academy, he couldn't immediately discern whether this one-star energy card was flawed.

The structure of this one-star energy card differed from the standard structure in several ways. Despite Jia Zilin's vast experience, he could tell that this structure was based on the standard one but had undergone some changes. However, he couldn't determine whether these changes were intentional or erroneous, as he had never seen such altered structures before.

Seeing Jia Zilin's dilemma, Left Pavilion Robe couldn't help but speak up, "Teacher, why don't we try it out and see if this energy card works?"

Jia Zilin's eyes lit up. Yes! By checking whether this card works, we can determine if there's any mistake. However, he maintained a demeanor as if he had already thought of this idea long ago, clearing his throat, "Hmm, Tingyi, you've made some progress. You think just like me."

Left Pavilion Robe humbly replied, "Teacher, your wisdom is boundless, far beyond what students can compare to."

Jia Zilin was delighted internally, but said, "You don't need to be overly modest. Among the students, there are very few who can match you."

"It's all thanks to the teacher's guidance that students have achieved what they have today," Left Pavilion Robe bowed slightly.

"Tingyi, for not forgetting your teacher's kindness, you're rare indeed." After exchanging pleasantries, Jia Zilin pretended to be profound, "Well, let's go see what's so extraordinary about this one-star energy card."

In Jia Zilin's card making room, there was a wide array of equipment.

Although card making was a profound discipline, there were many learners. The division between card makers was severe, with a vast difference in wealth. Low-level card makers often struggled to make ends meet, while mid-level ones could have decent incomes. However, once someone became a high-level card maker, they immediately became sought after, becoming targets for various factions.

Low-level card makers could only produce one-star and two-star cards, and nowadays, one-star and two-star cards were already mass-produced industrially. This was why low-level card makers often struggled. Cards of three stars or higher could only be made by card makers, which was why mid to high-level card makers were in such demand.

To attract high-level card makers to teach, Dongwei Academy provided extremely generous conditions. Not only were the salaries excellent, but the research funding provided annually was equally enviable. Jia Zilin had his own personal card making room, equipped with various instruments provided by Dongwei Academy.

He was currently using a card analysis device, a highly specialized instrument with complex operation, only purchased and learned to use by card makers. However, its functionality was powerful, capable of analyzing the material, structure, and even the production time of cards. Of course, it was also extremely expensive.

"It is indeed a new structure!" Seeing the final analysis report, despite Left Pavilion Robe's stunned expression, Jia Zilin fell into contemplation. He had much broader knowledge than Left Pavilion Robe and knew that there were many other types of structures for one-star energy cards besides the standard one.

The analysis report was very detailed. While the material and structure of this one-star energy card were no different from a standard one, the performance was the same, with no optimizations whatsoever.

No value! Shaking his head, Jia Zilin felt somewhat disheartened. He had spent half a day on this, but hadn't gained anything valuable. As a senior card maker, he never expected that the optimization of this one-star energy card would not lie in its performance, but in its cost!

To him, putting so much effort into optimizing the cost of a one-star energy card might itself be a strange idea.

Tossing the card aside, Jia Zilin decided not to waste any more time on this matter. As a distinguished senior card maker, his time was precious!

Left Pavilion Robe also never expected that this one-star energy card would be optimized in terms of cost. Coming from a wealthy family, he regarded money as dirt and never imagined that someone would try to profit from a one-star energy card that cost only a little over a hundred Oudis to make. In fact, he had never even used a card below three stars.

However, as the only intact card among the three paper bags, Left Pavilion Robe, who had experienced countless ruined cards, still harbored some goodwill towards the maker of this card. He originally intended to help them participate in the advancement exam, but after searching for a while, he couldn't find out who the maker of this card was, and the matter ended there.

Chen Mu's life remained unchanged. He continued to make one-star energy cards every day. However, due to the gains during the training period, his progress was rapid. This was most evident in his brushstrokes when drawing energy cards, which had become more rounded and natural. Roughly estimating, this could increase the efficiency of the energy cards he made by three percent.

Since one-star energy cards themselves had little energy, this three percent increase wouldn't show much effect.