The Card Apprentice

Chapter 129: The Best Breath Control

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

Cheng Ying had a commission that day and she needed to leave the base. Women very seldom went out so late, but that wasn’t any problem for someone like her who wasn’t just any weak woman but was rather an outstanding card artisan. She had the strength to defend herself. So, she hadn’t hesitated to take it when she saw the commission.

She had been training diligently during that time, and had already become rather well-known at the base, though she still wasn’t satisfied. She hoped to become even stronger, to achieve her dreams which still seemed so far away.

She had joined the Ning family base entirely because of the excellent training facilities there. She had already confirmed her decision. And with so many aces at the base, like Mark Victor or Bo Wen – and by that time even Will couldn’t be underestimated – every time she thought about it she cheered for herself. How could she be outdistanced by them?

She restrained her excitement while she trained desperately and surged rapidly higher in her ability during that time.

If she wanted to maintain that kind of training she constantly needed to take commissions to get enough contribution points. The commissions on the base were entirely different from those outside; not only were they of many different types, they were several levels more difficult. Just to complete a commission was a kind of tempering of her power.

Cheng Ying gave her all for every single commission.

That commission wasn’t any different, and she needed to be at some certain place before two AM. It was still half an hour before the appointed time, which was plenty of time given her speed.

Just as she usually did, she walked toward the number five exit, which was a number she liked.

She suddenly seemed to sense something behind her. She turned about, slightly alarmed, though there was nothing behind her. She looked around the exit corridor and didn’t see anyplace to hide.

She couldn’t help laughing at herself. Maybe she had been accepting too many commissions lately and her nerves were too sensitive.

She took out her room card and was just about to swipe it when she heard what sounded like a person’s rapid footsteps coming toward her. Her hand stopped immediately in midair just as the hurried steps hit her ear.

Chen Mu was coldly staring down at her from the ceiling into which he had absorbed himself. He had long since forgotten the woman he had once passed by. All his concentration was on the room card in Cheng Ying’s hand. Since he was on the ceiling, he could also hear any footsteps from outside very clearly.

There was no evidence of life in his indifferent eyes, which were shrouded in a layer of darkness, as though there were some dark world behind them.

Ten seconds had gone by.

He was managing his time very precisely, since he could only remain in the state of breath control for 150 seconds, with the most he had ever done being three minutes – or 180 seconds – although he couldn’t plan for that.

Every second of those 150 was precious. If he couldn’t finish within 150 seconds, what would happen next was easy to imagine.

Before he had set the plan, he had also wondered whether it was worth it. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided that it was. Having gone through his business with Copper and with the demonic woman, his desire for freedom was ever stronger. It wasn’t that he couldn’t lower his head and temporarily behave in worldly ways in the face of power. But that didn’t mean that he wanted to stay that way forever.

He craved freedom!

Chen Mu’s brain had been whirling all along, which was one of the features of the state of breath control, as well as one of its strengths.

He was stuck to the ceiling like a gecko, without any expression on his face, his gaze focused on the room card in Cheng Ying’s hand.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer and he could hear that someone was rushing in his direction, where there was only the number five exit.

He had decided In less than a second that as soon as that person entered the passageway he wouldn’t have anyplace to hide and would have to make his move. Chen Mu’s expression didn’t show the slightest bit of worry, seeming like a bystander calmly watching some ordinary event.

In contrast to his state of mind, his reflexes were exploding. His belly was slightly sunken, when it suddenly stuck forcefully out, at the same time that his four limbs which were stuck to the ceiling abruptly extended, and then like some phantom he pounced on Cheng Ying.

At almost the same time that Chen Mu made his move, Cheng Ying had felt something odd. There was someone on top of her! Her face showed the terror that she hadn’t felt something that was so close. In a spark’s time, lots of thoughts passed through her mind, and then a chill arose from the depths of her heart.

Even though it had happened so suddenly, Cheng Ying showed the profound power of a professional card artisan. She very quickly bent over backwards, touching the ground in an instant and tumbling back.

And she had activated the apparatus on her wrist in that tiny period.

She had already calculated that if she were to stand during that instant, she would only be able to fire off one shot. She believed that if she were only able to fire off that shot, it would certainly push her adversary back. At such close range, she really couldn’t dodge. And if her opponent were to move back, it would be better for her. By opening some distance, she could get away from that passive situation and take the initiative.

But before she could stand up, she felt a powerful force from the room card that she was clenching in her hand, and she couldn’t hang onto it as her hand went empty.

She turned pale with fright.

Her seductively slim waist suddenly tightened as she rolled to the side. The shot she had anticipated had never materialized, which astonished her as she got the hell out of there to stay away from her adversary as best as she could. Even by the time she straightened out, no shots had materialized from her adversary. The frightened Cheng Ying’s two legs were bent for springing as she assumed an alert posture. There was no color in her face, with her adversary so easily taking the room card from her hand. If he wanted to kill her all he would need would be a dagger. No. Even a nail could do it.

It had been a long time since she had been in such danger, with her life so directly threatened. The pressure of death far exceeding that of any of her commissions. She had completed a lot of commissions, but none had terrified her like that.

Her adversary wasn’t making a sound or taking a breath as he utterly pinned her. He had a lot more power than she did! She had immediately realized that in the face of such an ace she didn’t have the slightest opportunity for any resistance.

That kind of feeling was really messed up!

She defiantly lifted her head in fear toward that person who had stolen her room card, not being able to understand what good it was to steal a room card. She didn’t know how someone so terrifying in his moves could come stealing a room card, and a perfectly ordinary one at that.

But once Cheng Ying clearly saw her attacker’s face, her complexion changed again, being shocked to the point of almost screaming.

It was him! It was that sallow-faced youth she’d run into that day outside the training room. It was actually him! She immediately thought of the terrifying numbers she had seen in the training room about close-range dodging and evading. That then made her still more firmly believe that the youth was a terrifyingly powerful close-combat card artisan.

She really didn’t know how terrifying Chen Mu’s power was, but what she did know was that she couldn’t disobey him. When was he going to come at her? How long would he stay up there? She had no idea. And she could see from that attack just then that the two of them were not in the same realm.

“Who are you?” Cheng Ying was horrified as she looked at Chen Mu on full alert.

While it takes a while to describe those unforeseen events, they had all taken place in a very brief five seconds.

Fifteen seconds had already been passed in the state of breath control, and Chen Mu calculated that he couldn’t pay attention to Cheng Ying.

He had no need, and he had no time.

As quickly as possible, he swiped Cheng Ying’s room card at the exit from the passageway. At the same time, he was calculating that it would probably take five seconds to get through the passage which meant that there would be 130 seconds left after he got through.

Seeing Chen Mu swipe the room card, Cheng Ying immediately understood Chen Mu’s plan. The youth certainly didn’t have a room card, or his room card didn’t have access permissions. He wanted to use her card to open the door of the passage. Her face was completely devoid of any blood by then. She really didn’t know what the relations were between Chen Mu and the Ning’s, but there was one thing which she did know very well, that if he were to be allowed to leave like this, it would certainly be bad for her later.

It was the Ning family style to recognize only results and not be concerned with the process.

“This won’t work for you. Once the probe cards around here detect you the entryway won’t open.” Cheng Ying was biting her lip, as she spoke with a pallid face. She didn’t want to die, since that would be the end of her hopes. But at the same time, she hoped she wouldn’t lose her foothold on the Ning family base because of the matter. If there were no way for her to become stronger, then her dreams would be but a reflection of nothing.

Chen Mu wasn’t paying any attention to her but was listening closely as the footsteps outside got closer and closer, until they were only twenty meters away by his quick estimation of the precise location.

Cheng Ying didn’t know what to do as she watched Chen Mu not making any move. Once the probe cards had detected that the information in the room card didn’t match the one going through the entryway, the door in the passageway certainly wouldn’t open. During the daytime, it would only let one person at a time pass, with two not being able to come or go at the same time. That was precisely to prevent such a situation.

She wasn’t afraid of him escaping the base at that time; she was afraid of him taking out his anger on her. She had also heard the footsteps and was hoping that someone would come quickly to stop that nut.

Five seconds passed.

The passageway entrance suddenly burst open!

How . . . how could that be? Cheng Ying opened her eyes and couldn’t believe that the door had been opened. Impossible! The door had never been able to be opened for two in the passageway, which was something that people had tried countless times without anyone succeeding.

Cheng Ying was lost in a brief trance wondering how the entrance had opened.

The footsteps stopped at the entrance once the one coming arrived there.

“Chen Mu!” The words of the one who had arrived showed surprise and shock, which brought Cheng Ying back to life. Her gaze fell onto Bo Wen, who was the one at the entrance.

“Halt!” While Bo Wen’s voice wasn’t loud, it had a biting chill as he stared coldly at Chen Mu.

Bo Wen was looking with a stern dark expression at the youth about to leave, which was the first time Cheng Ying had seen such a steely dark expression. From what she had seen, Bo Wen always had that charming mild smile on his face. Although she also knew that Bo Wen’s real nature wasn’t so mild as the expression he wore, every time she saw that friendly smile, she couldn’t help being smitten by it.

Bo Wen is an enemy of this youth? That was the first thing which came to Cheng Ying’s mind.

Chen Mu was also paying attention to Bo Wen, but in contrast to Cheng Ying, his expression hadn’t changed at all, still having that emotionless look. He looked at Bo Wen indifferently, while in his brain Chen Mu was determining that Bo Wen showing up was an unforeseen factor, though since he hadn’t known he didn’t do much thinking about it.

What was most valuable just then was time.

Without any hesitation, Chen Mu leapt through the passage toward the outside. Bo Wen’s appearance would cause the passage entryway to close, so he only had a very short time.

Chen Mu was more decisive than anyone could have anticipated, with even Bo Wen not having considered it. But Bo Wen reacted very quickly, taking a cold breath and planting his two legs into the ground and then sending his whole body forward. He knew very well that if he were to hesitate at all, Chen Mu would disappear from his field of vision. And he might disappear forever, since hiding was the strength of the card artisans of the night of the cross.

The damned alarm suddenly sounded once the probe cards had detected the anomaly.

The entryway could be seen to close quickly, slamming toward Bo Wen who was in the entryway though he slipped away like a fish without any hesitation, braving the danger of being chopped off at the waist by the door.

Jumping away from the door, Bo Wen quickly dropped to the ground, but he had seen Chen Mu. Chen Mu had already activated his jet stream card and was probably a hundred meters away flying north. He was really moving fast! Bo Wen was silently surprised that with only a second’s lead Chen Mu had already activated his apparatus to stop the fall and set his direction.

That needed some kind of precise calculation and control!

Bo Wen’s complexion changed, as he became still more certain of Chen Mu’s identity as the night of the cross. He suddenly caught a glimpse that Cheng Ying had gotten out with him, which surprised him. But he regrouped all his attention. In front of a night of the cross card artisan, if he couldn’t maintain his concentration, never mind revenge, he could lose his life at any time.

Bo Wen then finally demonstrated all his power without holding anything back! Who knows when he had activated the apparatus on his wrist, but one only saw his figure in midair as it abruptly gained speed.

His jet stream card clearly wasn’t low grade and had a very high flight speed, even faster than the one that Chen Mu had which had been especially bought for its high speed. His whole body was like an artillery shell, hurtling in the direction that Chen Mu was flying.

Having just determined Chen Mu’s identity, and having gone through Chen Mu’s apartment, which he found to be empty, he had immediately realized that Chen Mu had very likely made a move. Although he had become conscious that Chen Mu had some scheme, he still wasn’t very clear why Chen Mu had come to the base.

Neither Ning Peng nor Ning Yan were at the base, and he wasn’t too sure of the identity of the one in charge. He had planned to go to the Amay Ning’s at night, to find the clan elder. He never thought he would run into Chen Mu at the number five entranceway.

Chen Mu had not been ignoring Bo Wen following him. He was an unknown factor with a lot more power than he could have expected. That jet stream card in Bo Wen’s hands must have been a four-star card. Only four-star cards would have such high-speed capability. The most important thing was the enmity that Bo Wen had toward Chen Mu, that being the first time that Chen Mu had classified someone as an enemy like that.

Chen Mu still wasn’t feeling any upheaval in his emotions, remaining calm and objective.

If he didn’t do something about it, his adversary would catch him in five seconds. And if his adversary intended to take a shot, that would come no more than two seconds later.

That had been an objective calculation. At the initial stages of flight when the acceleration was the highest, most of the body’s functions had to be endure the forces of acceleration as well as keeping balance, so that it would be very difficult for any card artisan to attack during that time. Although the four-star jet stream card that Bo Wen was using had accelerated very abruptly, it also applied a lot of force to the body at the same time. Under those conditions, one would need a terrifying amount of power to mount any attack.

Although Bo Wen was strong, he was still far away from that kind of ability.

Chen Mu immediately determined that he should adjust, and his perception quickly changed to his apparatus. Within .6 seconds he had already completed swapping out his cards. In the state of breath control, Chen Mu could bring his greatest ability into play, which was much higher than normal. In his normal state under those conditions, he would need two seconds to swap a card. That would already be considered outstanding among card artisans. But .6 seconds boosted him up to a different plane. The power of the state of breath control was obvious.

He replaced the high-speed jet stream card with the big mud fish card. That was a stupid thing to do against the speed of a four-star jet-stream card. But while a four-star jet-stream card is fast, a card master like Chen Mu would naturally know its weaknesses. The faster it was the more difficulty it would have with turns. And moreover, even though he was still a novice, Chen was a close-combat card artisan. It had to be remembered that his results in the close-range dodging and evading had been extremely impressive.

Chen Mu re-extended his perception into the big mud fish card. Without needing to think, Chen Mu could be seen dropping precipitously at high speed toward the residential area below.

Bo Wen immediately reacted, as he pressed himself slightly lower. He had very quick reflexes and if Chen Mu hadn’t turned, he would have intercepted Chen Mu within two seconds. Still, with the direction he had now chosen he could cover a rather large range. No matter which way Chen Mu flew, he wouldn’t be able to escape the scope of his control.

Not only that, but a blood red moon-shaped wavy blade had appeared above his palm, ready to be fired at will. It was the blood sharp card! Bo Wen had chosen the three-star card while flying, since he could control it a little better. He didn’t need power at that time, but rather precision, which was why he chose the blood sharp card.

Probably even Chen Mu hadn’t considered that the card that he had just made would be used against him so quickly. What a wonderful world!

Twenty-three seconds! He had already passed twenty-three seconds in the state of breath control, and everything had gone well so far except for the appearance of Bo Wen.

From when the entrance had opened until that point had taken only three seconds. But whether it was Chen Mu or Bo Wen, they had both put on an amazing performance during those three seconds. In comparison, Cheng Ying, who was struggling to keep up with them, was far inferior. She didn’t have Chen Mu’s stunning control, and she didn’t have Bo Wen’s ability to use a four-star card. While she had considerable strength, in front of those two powerful people she paled to nothing.

She gritted her teeth and continued her struggle to keep up, though she didn’t dare get too close. The reason she was being so bold as to pursue them at such peril was that she wanted to do her own assessment. No matter what, that room card which had opened the entryway was hers, and although that youth was strong she still didn’t believe that there was anyone who could escape from the Ning family domain. Having been born in Amay City, the power of the Ning’s had long been implanted in Cheng Ying’s mind. When that youth was finally captured, even though her room card had been grabbed from her, if the Ning family were to investigate it would still cause trouble.

If she really weren’t able to remain at the base because of that it would be unbearable for her. The Ning family base was now the only way she could imagine growing stronger. Born ordinary, she knew how hard it was to find an opportunity like that, which made her cherish it all the more.

No one knew how much she craved power underneath her bluff and freewheeling nature.

She didn’t intend to give up and was braving the danger in pursuit. Even though she might not be able to be effective, she wanted the trial to demonstrate her attitude to get a little more respect from the Ning family.

But having seen the two of them engage for those three seconds, all of her thoughts went out the window with the peak responses of the two of them just then.

Too awesome!

During those brief three seconds, the skill and adaptability of the two of them would be called textbook classic. They had gone through several rounds in three seconds, which might not have seemed like much since there weren’t any dazzling moves. But the skill implied in each of the moves would put all the so-called aces at the base to shame.

As she saw the profession, Chen Mu’s timing and accurate judgement were scary, and the speed with which he swapped cards was absolutely terrifying. And as for Bo Wen with his reflexes as quick as lightning, his adaptability also couldn’t be picked apart.

She watched the two in front of her with envy, since having that kind of power would be considered great! They were just too much more powerful than she was. No matter how she looked at their fighting within those brief three seconds, it would have ended in failure for her.

She kept her distance even more, since that level of competition wasn’t something she could take part in. But at the same time, she didn’t want to be too far away since that level of contest wasn’t something that she would ever see again. To see such a battle with her own eyes could teach her a lot.

When she first saw Chen Mu so abruptly dive to where the residences were, she was puzzled. But very quickly she remembered the string of anomalous numbers she had seen on that screen regarding close-range dodging and evading training.

Her expression then changed.

Just as Cheng Ying thought he would, Chen Mu was going to take advantage of that ability. But before he could, he would need to enter safely into a more complicated terrain.

His mind was extremely sober in his state of breath control, enabling him to consider every factor. In that state he could give full play to all his strength, for example his expertise with making tactical maneuvers in midair. In Chen Mu’s own estimation, tactical maneuvers in midair was not something he was good at, since the midair tactical maneuvers he had learned only had a difficulty level of 70.

He thought that if 80 were considered excellent, then how could 70 be considered high.

Under the state of breath control, Chen Mu’s mind was sharply focused, and he wasn’t going to think about such irrelevant matters. The reason he had chosen those skills was that he had calculated that he would have to be able use them to evade his adversary’s attacks even before he got to the ground. He figured that during that time Bo Wen would certainly mount an attack on him.

Chen Mu suddenly made a spiraling somersaulting dodge in midair. His body could be seen to suddenly twist and then abruptly drift downward in a dangerous trajectory. Bo Wen – who had just locked in on Chen Mu and had been about to let loose the wavy blades in his hand – suddenly lost his target and had to quickly retract his perception. That caused the red wavy blades in his hand to quiver and give off a fine ripple, although they very quickly regained their firm position in his hand.

But to have nearly lost control of his perception in the chaos like that was a feeling that was hard for him to take.

His astonishment was unparalleled. While every generation of the Ning’s had advanced some research into the night of the cross, there still wasn’t very much accumulated information about them in the family. But he could still discern the evidence. The two strongest skills off the night of the cross – the cross and breath control – included attack and stealth, and when they were used together, it would be hard to defend against an assassination. But in all the materials that existed, there was nothing to indicate that the card artisans of the night of the cross were good at close combat.

Although lord Ning Xuan had been killed by the cross at close range, that didn’t mean that the cross was a close combat skill. The cross was the most well-known and outstanding of the skills of the night of the cross, and it was what the Ning family understood the best. It was a cross shaped energy form which was emitted by the composition of the cross card, which had a lot of power. But the cross card was a classic remote attack card.

And most of the cases of assassination among the night of the cross were committed lurking in the shadows of darkness, using the cross card to deliver the fatal blow. It had never been said that the sect of card artisans could do close-combat.

But midair tactical maneuvers were something that only a classic close-combat card artisan would learn. And still more, only the most orthodox and steadfast close-combat card artisans would be able to learn those spiraling somersaulting midair dodges which had a level of difficultly of 70.

Could it be that the night of the cross had been keeping up with the times?