The white-haired school beauty sighs every day, yet he keeps getting stronger.

The room was dimly lit, with only a small desk lamp on the desk.

Zhang Ziyang sat cross-legged on a yoga mat, wearing a pair of thin, breathable black shorts, his upper body bare, revealing his muscular chest and arms.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, one hand resting on his knee, the other holding a crystal core, mobilizing the energy within his body to continuously absorb and devour it.

The suitcase in front of him was wide open, and it was completely empty.

There is a fundamental difference between a first-tier card master and a preparatory-tier card master.

First, once a card master reaches the first tier, the potential of the soul card is unlocked, and the first engraving can be obtained.

This engraving grants the card master new and stronger abilities.

It has one more powerful skill than a preparatory-level card master!

Secondly, there is mental strength.

A prospective card master's mental energy is loose, like flour.

A first-tier card master's mental energy contracts and solidifies, much like flour mixed with water to form dough.

It's thicker and more robust, and also more malleable!

Finally, his mental strength reached the minimum threshold for learning combat skills.

These combat skills are various techniques for using mental energy.

Once you've mastered it, you can combine your own Soul Card traits and the wild cards you possess to develop a variety of powerful moves!

When the quality of Soul Cards is not significantly different, there is a fundamental difference in combat power between those who possess combat skills and those who do not.

In short, only by reaching the first level can one be considered to be officially on the starting line of the Card Master profession!

For hundreds of days and nights, Zhang Ziyang often dreamed of the scene when the beast plague raged when he first came to this world.

The terror that made his blood freeze, and the heavy, powerless feeling of being forced to submit to the slaughter of the monsters, were branded deeply into his heart, and he could not get rid of them.

This world is too dangerous; who knows when another beast plague might break out!

Therefore, he must seize every minute to improve himself so that he can protect himself when disaster strikes.

In the quiet room, the bright yellow light illuminated a small area of ​​light.

Countless tiny dust particles were illuminated with exquisite detail, swirling and dancing with Zhang Ziyang's rhythmic breathing.

The second-order crystal core in his hand was shrinking in size as it was enveloped and released by "qi".

Like stone being constantly polished by a high-speed rotating grinding wheel.

But Zhang Ziyang still thought it was too slow.

It's too slow! It's too slow!!

At this rate, it will take at least another hour to complete the refining process.

Of course, this efficiency is already terrifying compared to other people's children.

It takes 2-3 days for a preparatory-level card master of average aptitude to absorb a first-level crystal core.

The absorption of second-order crystal nuclei takes place over time, measured in weeks.

Suddenly, Zhang Ziyang remembered the new ability he had gained from absorbing the essence of the demonic dragon—Crimson Demonic Flame!

This demonic fire is extremely powerful; anything it touches will ignite.

It will not be extinguished until the target is reduced to ashes; it is highly corrosive.

If we can integrate demonic fire into the qi, allowing the qi to absorb its properties, wouldn't the efficiency of refining crystal cores be greatly improved?

Zhang Ziyang acts on his thoughts.

He opened his eyes and put down the second-tier crystal core to avoid accidentally burning this precious item.

Then he raised his palm and released flames.

Crimson flames appeared out of thin air, scorching the air with a piercing explosion.

The entire room was immediately bathed in a blood-red glow by the firelight, making it appear eerie and sinister.

Zhang Ziyang quickly reduced the heat to the size of a marble, and then tried to carefully touch it with air.

Upon contact, the two quickly merged into one.

Immediately afterwards, the scarlet flames expanded violently, shooting up half a meter high.

"boom!"

Zhang Ziyang jerked his neck back and quickly turned off the stove.

Wow, this is adding fuel to the fire!

After adding gas, the power of the flames suddenly increased by so much?

This was something he hadn't expected; it was an unexpected discovery.

Conversely, the energy that had been incorporated into the crimson demon fire was also consumed.

The light in the room dimmed again.

Zhang Ziyang frowned and thought for a moment before continuing his attempt.

This time he changed the order.

First, release the energy within your body, mimicking the act of wearing imperial armor to absorb the remnant soul of the Crimson Dragon, allowing the energy to envelop your entire palm, forming an invisible energy ball.

This process was not easy, and it took Zhang Ziyang some time to complete.

Relieved, he immediately perked up and slowly infused the scarlet demonic fire into the flames.

The flame, like a goldfish, quickly darted into the energy ball in the palm.

Within the domain of Qi, the small flame could no longer stir up any waves and was easily suppressed.

Zhang Ziyang's eyes lit up with joy. He continued to concentrate, slowly dividing the demonic fire so that it could fully merge with the energy ball.

Soon, his entire right hand was enveloped in a warm glow of firelight.

"It worked! My guess was right after all!"

Zhang Ziyang carefully examined his right hand, his face full of joy.

Qi is colorless, formless, and tasteless.

However, the attributes change after the addition of demonic fire.

Now we can observe and capture its movement with the naked eye.

"This energy is bright red like fire, explosive and domineering, let's just call it the Southern Fire Energy."

Zhang Ziyang suppressed his joy and named it.

Fire governs summer and represents the south.

In the sweltering summer, all plants sprout and grow upwards, rising from the ground.

Hence the name Nanli Fire Qi.

After Zhang Ziyang finished speaking, he immediately picked up the second-order crystal core with his left hand and handed it to his right hand, and began to absorb it.

The colorless crystal core was immediately eroded and scorched upon contact with the Southern Fire, turning into bright red!

"Zi-"

The crystal nucleus, like oil in a pan, emitted a slight sizzling sound, and its internal energy was quickly assimilated by the fire energy from the south.

As the fire energy of the south increases and grows stronger, its power becomes even more intense!

The absorption and conversion efficiency has been significantly improved compared to before!

Zhang Ziyang closed his eyes and focused intently on absorbing the energy from the crystal core.

In his mind, six golden soul cards hovered in the void, while the nine golden light spots around them grew stronger and shone like stars!

With the continuous infusion of energy, the nine Venus stars began to approach each other and slowly began to rotate.

Faster and faster, faster and faster.

It quickly formed a flowing golden ring of light!

Boom~!

In his mind, the golden light band suddenly contracted into a ball, and then exploded violently.

The whole process happened so fast, in less than a second.

The light band exploded!

The endless starlight immediately scattered in all directions.

The six golden soul cards floating in the center of his mind were immediately engulfed by light.

Along with the explosion, a special force field seemed to quickly cover all parts of Zhang Ziyang's body.

Zhang Ziyang's consciousness was already focused on his mind, and this explosion caused his mind to go blank.

It was as if my soul had left my body; I couldn't perceive anything anymore.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Zhang Ziyang opened his eyes, still looking somewhat bewildered.

A cool breeze blew into the room through the gap in the slightly ajar window.

The notebooks on the table were turned page by page with a rustling sound.

A cool breeze brushed against his bare upper body, taking away some of the heat.

Zhang Ziyang snapped out of his daze and looked down.

The second-order crystal core that was originally placed in the palm of his right hand has disappeared.

My mind was clearer than ever before, and my mental energy condensed into one.

My five senses seemed to be enhanced, and I could clearly hear the footsteps of pedestrians passing by on the street outside the window.

The total amount of Qi in the body has also nearly doubled!

Zhang Ziyang quickly closed his eyes and focused his mind inward.

In his mind, six soul cards appeared, each with a striking engraving in the lower right corner.

The nine faint points of light disappeared, leaving only one more solid and dazzling point of light.

Tier 1, Star 1!

Zhang Ziyang opened his eyes, and couldn't help but laugh out loud with joy.

"Hahaha, it's done! I've become a first-tier card master!"