Chapter 10: Spiritual Cards

Qi Essence Elixir is the mark of a one-star spiritual apprentice.

Once the first drop of elixir forms in the spiritual sea, it means Duke can draw upon the power of the elixir to perform extraordinary feats—though the range of abilities is limited.

Closing the door and securing the latch, Duke made mental contact with the first-ring Sandhawk in his spiritual sea. In the next instant, a silver-gray desert eagle pistol appeared firmly in his hand.

Gripping the heavy Sandhawk, he could feel the one-ring magical device maintaining its form in reality while constantly consuming spiritual elixir from his spiritual sea.

"Little Art, how long can the Sandhawk materialize?"

"At the current rate of elixir consumption—without using the Sandhawk—it can materialize for about three minutes. Because I'm still maintaining meditation, absorbing free spiritual essence increases the Sandhawk's materialization time to six minutes."

"What if I pull the trigger?"

"Master needs to try it once for Little Art to collect enough data."

While Duke certainly wanted to experiment, he couldn't do it in the small inn. So, for now, he postponed the idea of pulling the trigger and continued his inquiry, "Little Art, can this Sandhawk be further upgraded?"

In the same world but with vastly different backgrounds, his phone transformed into Little Art, a ninth-ring artificial intelligence, while the pistol remained only a one-ring Sandhawk. The gap between them was immense.

"Theoretically feasible. Little Art can modify the Sandhawk's spell model, but it requires collecting a large amount of data for computation."

"As long as it can be upgraded."

Playing with the Sandhawk for a moment, Duke dispersed it and signaled Little Art to continue practicing the "Blank Paper Meditation Method." Meanwhile, he started perusing the purchased books.

After a rough glance, he knew Little Art would remember all the content for him, providing feedback whenever and wherever needed.

With such a powerful guide, Duke wasn't worried about his mediocre spiritual talent. Talent was just one of many factors influencing the future, not an absolute.

...

The next day.

As dawn broke, Duke left the inn, bought a few meat buns from a street stall, and walked into West Station while eating. He found the sign for the route to Snakehead Town, waited in place, and when the sun rose, the black beetle-like vehicle arrived on time. It was the same one as before, with the same driver and ticket seller, but a different Knight accompanying the vehicle.

On routes with potential dangers, having Knights accompanying the journey was essential. Two first-ring Knights were more than enough to eliminate most risks.

The return trip was smooth and uneventful. When the black beetle vehicle entered the station, Duke felt a completely different mood upon seeing Snakehead Town again.

"At least there's some assurance of safety as a registered spiritual apprentice."

Before registering at the Tower of Spirits, as an ordinary person with no family, he would be just another local security case even if he were murdered. The local sheriff might close the case hastily.

Once registered at the Tower of Spirits, the situation changed.

The Seven-Tower Federation was a haven for mages. Daring to murder a mage or spiritual apprentice would be considered a challenge to the Seven-Tower Federation, and they would investigate it thoroughly.

Of course, nothing was absolute. True safety still relied on oneself.

Back at the rental house, looking at the only two rooms with a leaky roof, Duke no longer wanted to stay there. "It's time to find a new place."

Snakehead Town had a layout of four main streets, dividing the small town into a nine-grid pattern. The central region, in terms of safety, environment, and convenience, was the best. It was also built on a place rich in spiritual energy, making it ideal for spiritual sea cultivation. However, the rent there was extremely high, and Duke couldn't afford it at the moment.

He decided to look for a house along the second vertical street.

Because the Little Sam's Card Shop was located at 214 Second Vertical Street, and renting nearby would be convenient for commuting.

He spent an afternoon searching for a house and eventually found a two-story house with a courtyard in a small alley off the second vertical street. It had two rooms on each floor.

Deposit of two silver dragons and three months' rent in advance—four and a half silver dragons per month.

Duke moved his meager belongings into the new house and went to a nearby spiritual tools store to buy a spiritual energy water heater, which he installed in the shower compartment of the building. He couldn't stand the environment without hot water, and this move conveniently resolved that need.

Once everything was settled, he cooked rice.

Then, Duke continued to flip through the purchased books, providing more data for Little Art with his own eyes. As a ninth-ring magical device, Little Art, without data, had limited functionality. It was only by continuous nurturing that Little Art could play an increasingly significant role, helping him survive better in this world.

"Spiritual cards are a collection."

"All carriers that can compress a standard spell model, that is, a ring, into it and maintain the energy circuit's smooth operation can be called spiritual cards."

"Spiritual cards can be a card, a ball, or even a soft and fluffy gelatinous substance."

"However, spiritual cards are usually fixed as card structures for convenience in carrying, easy operation, simple production, and easy maintenance. They use the smallest volume to leverage the largest energy."

While rapidly reading, Duke also placed his only three spiritual cards on the table for comparison: Spirit Dragon Card, Spell Card, and Storage Card.

"Among these three cards, the Spirit Dragon Card and the Spell Card are both single-sided cards, the simplest kind of spiritual cards; the Storage Card is a three-dimensional card, a more complex type." He looked at the cards and continued reading.

The book described spiritual cards, which were roughly categorized into single-sided cards, double-sided cards, stacked cards, nested cards, bundled cards, irregular cards, three-dimensional cards, and more.

Among them, common ones were single-sided cards, double-sided cards, and three-dimensional cards.

"Tomorrow, I'll go back to work. I don't know if I can get started and personally craft a spiritual card." Duke thought to himself.

Reading until late at night, he extinguished the lights, lay on the bed, and went to sleep. Little Art continued to maintain the operation of the "Blank Paper Meditation Method" in the spiritual sea.

The free spiritual essence outside gradually gathered, inch by inch absorbed by the body, and finally converged in the spiritual sea.

Originally just one drop of elixir.

Now, there were twenty-eight drops of elixir.

These elixirs surrounded Little Art and the Sandhawk, constantly jumping in an irregular pattern, but Duke could feel their intimacy with him. With just a thought, he could command them.

"When the elixirs form a line of energy, I'll advance to a two-star apprentice."

However, the condensation of elixirs was not so easy. As the number of elixirs in the spiritual sea increased, the efficiency of condensing elixirs began to decline. This was because the acceptance of spiritual energy by the body tended to saturate.

The spiritual sea was not a real sea that could infinitely contain spiritual power.

The amount of spiritual energy the spiritual sea could contain was closely related to the body. Of course, these spiritual energies would subtly improve physical qualities, prolong life, and mitigate diseases.

"Little Art!"

"I'm here."

"Do you have any insights into card crafting?"

"The key to card crafting is to find the weak points in the energy circuit and reinforce or clear those points. Theoretically, Little Art can already repair ordinary single-sided spiritual cards."

"Not bad, not bad." Duke was in a great mood. "If you can do it, it's the same as me knowing how to do it."

"In theory, that's correct. However, Master, Little Art cannot control your body. So, the specific repair techniques still require your personal operation and proficiency."