Chapter 1 The Morning Sunlight

The morning sun rose higher and higher on the horizon, its rays streaming through the wooden balcony railing and casting long shadows of Lan Qi.

A comfortable rattan chair sat on the balcony, and a half-read book lay on the glass tea table beside it. A fragrant breeze, laden with the scent of flowers, brushed Lan Qi's cheek, as if trying to dispel his drowsiness.

"Lan Qi, it's time for your card-making exam. Stop obsessing over your animal friends."

The Great Poet, watering can in hand, glanced at the clock inside the living room and then kicked Lan Qi, who was still squatting on the ground, leisurely feeding the birds, twice in the back.

"I know, I know. It's still early. I won't be late."

Lan Qi rubbed his sleepy eyes.

Although he summoned the Great Poet frequently and had grown somewhat familiar with her, her attitude towards him was becoming increasingly casual.

Sometimes, he completely forgot that she was a girl. In reality, the Great Poet's behavior was very boyish.

"Go, Lan Qi! Show the people of the royal capital what you can do with sealing techniques! Bishop Silent Death is the representative of sealing techniques; there's no reason for that!"

The Great Poet grinned in the morning sun.

"Yes, sealing techniques should also be warm and sunny, definitely not dark magic like Askesan."

Lan Qi smiled in relief and stood up, stretching with all his might.

Soon, the Great Poet dismissed the summoning herself, and Lan Qi prepared to leave.

Stepping through the faint morning light at the entrance of the Sage Academy dormitory, Lan Qi wore a faint smile as he slowly walked along the campus road.

His face was calm, and he was bathed in the pale golden morning sun, his temperament becoming more and more cheerful.

Today was the day of the registered card-maker exam, and it was also the weekend, so there were no classes or student council activities.

A month had passed in a flash, filled with ordinary, unremarkable days.

Aside from going to the student council to smoothly handle minor disputes on campus, Lan Qi spent most of his time with Talia or making cards in his dormitory.

Although he still didn't have complete confidence in passing the exam, after being trained by Talia's demonic teaching methods and finding the magic type that best suited him, which he then diligently practiced, Lan Qi believed that he was much stronger than before, when he was only good at making mental-type magic cards.

He got up early this morning and headed to the card-maker association branch in the royal capital, Ikriit, to take the registration exam.

The higher the registered card-maker status, the greater the discounts on various common and rare materials purchased from the card-maker association.

It was even possible to have materials transported from other countries in the Southern Continent.

In addition, the handling fees for selling cards and accepting commissioned requests would also be very low.

Moreover, the card-maker association was a good place to find high-rarity materials.

If he were to trade as a merchant, like Lan Qi used to do, he could only sell some high-level materials to the association but couldn't buy them from the association.

The association had been working hard to crack down on scalpers and their horses.

Not far from the Sage Academy dormitory building, Lan Qi saw Hyperion sitting quietly on a circular wooden bench under a large tree, waiting for him.

"Good morning, Hyperion!"

Lan Qi waved and called out.

Hyperion quickly noticed him and turned her head.

"Yes, good morning."

The two met at the agreed-upon spot and then headed towards the card-maker association together.

Hyperion had told Lan Qi long ago that she would go to the card-maker association with him today.

She was one of the few people at the school who knew that Lan Qi was a card-maker, and she had always wanted to see Lan Qi's card-making process.

They left the school area.

They strolled along the quiet morning streets, along the stone road beside the Ikriit Grand Theater, crossed the canal over the stone bridge, and saw the Yara moat shimmering with jagged gold in the morning light.

"Lan Qi, did you know that you've become a bit famous in the royal capital recently?"

The two chatted as they walked, as usual.

"Is that so?"

Lan Qi had no idea that his deeds had spread from Ikriit Academy.

During this time, he had been immersed in card-making and had spent most of his time at the school.

When he left the school area, it was usually to go to the Cat Boss Restaurant not far to the east to see Talia.

"Although our demonic Shadow World images haven't been made public, the rumors are getting more and more exaggerated..."

Hyperion sighed.

She thought it would be better if there were images.

It was precisely because there were no images that people were imagining and spreading rumors, with each person probably changing the story a little, and in the end, each version became extremely abstract.

"Tell me, what kind of rumors are they spreading?"

Lan Qi asked curiously.

"The most ridiculous version is that you, Headmaster Lan, are invincible, even if you carry hell on your back, hold the Corridor Academy in one hand, and fight against a Vampire Prince."

Lan Qi almost choked on his saliva when he heard that.

He coughed a few times and asked, "No one actually believes that, do they?"

Hyperion shook her head.

"Anyway, many residents of the royal capital seem to be happily spreading the rumors. Some young parents even use this story to scare disobedient children: if you're not a good, obedient child, Headmaster Lan will catch you and take you to the Demon Academy to be reformed."

"I..."

Lan Qi was speechless for a moment.

He was clearly promoting positive energy, such as love, peace, and moral order, in this Shadow World.

How could it turn into a dark fairy tale?

Spreading rumors is truly terrifying.

"Okay, okay, don't worry about it. Everyone knows that the story is somewhat of a joke."

Hyperion smiled helplessly.

Although she knew that the story was only three parts true and seven parts false, she could still see Lan Qi's confusion at the moment.

Lan Qi nodded upon hearing this.

Then, he said with a firm expression:

"That's right. As long as I work harder next time, I'll definitely be able to make everyone understand the full positive energy that I'm promoting."

"..."

Hyperion hesitated.

She felt like it would have been better if she hadn't said that sentence earlier.

...

About half an hour later.

The two arrived at the Southern Continent Card-Maker Association, located near the Aerika Magic Tower and the Hutton Walking Plaza in the eastern part of the royal capital, Ikriit.

Unlike the rustic-style card-maker association branch that Lan Qi had seen in the Southern Wantina border territory, the postmodernist grand building of the Ikriit branch in the royal capital had been completed ten years ago. The Ikriit city government was responsible for its execution. It stood in stark contrast to the neoclassical Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association building not far away. The two buildings were separated by the Hutton Walking Plaza but were aligned on the same axis.

The glass curtain wall of the Royal Capital Card-Maker Association branch referenced the urban grid of Ikriit and reflected the landscape of the Hutton Walking Plaza.

As soon as they walked through the waterfall illusion gate that automatically opened to welcome them, they saw the internal streamlined passages and forest gallery. From the design style alone, it was clear that it incorporated elements of Ikriit's humanities, geology, historical research, paleontology, magical engineering, and sociology.

"What time does your exam start?"

Hyperion turned her head and asked as they walked along the clear signs inside the building.

"Nine o'clock. There's still plenty of time. We can take a look around first."

Lan Qi estimated that it should only be a little after eight o'clock now.

"Now that we've both advanced, we can also see if there are any new cards we can buy before the next Shadow World."

"Okay."

Hyperion nodded.

She knew that Lan Qi's Error Healing series of magic cards were all bought from the card-maker association.

These discarded cards that ordinary people wouldn't use could be successfully obtained without spending too much money.

It was possible to find even more effective Error Healing magic cards by frequently browsing.

However, recently, the price of the Error Healing series of magic cards throughout the Kingdom of Hutton seemed to have started to rise slightly.

Gradually, some people discovered that this type of discarded card, which was originally only used for decomposition, could be brought along to disgust opponents.

Although it had no substantial effect, it could purely mess with their mentality.

Hyperion knew that it was definitely a teacher from the Sage Academy who understood this usage and then imitated Lan Qi, gradually starting this trend.

Although they couldn't talk about it because of Dean Loren's ban, the teachers all knew that the price of this type of card would increase greatly in the future, and the smart ones were hoarding them.

(End of Chapter)