Chapter 7 Cooperation

Three figures slowly emerged from the darkness of the dense forest—two tall and one short. They were Gu Ye, Chu Ling, and Ye Suxuan. Gu Ye had encountered them a few hours ago; originally, he had planned to keep killing monsters to earn money while aiming for first place in the trial.

Unexpectedly, Chu Ling told him that as long as they could kill the Hidden Boss of the Card Domain, the card-making materials dropped would not only make him a fortune but also guarantee him first place. That was why Gu Ye followed Chu Ling to search for it.

Gu Ye gazed at the mess of the battlefield ahead with a complex expression. He had seen the fierce battle between Yan Shuangling and the Gluttonous Ghoul clearly just now. Yan Shuangling's card, Elegant Blade, possessed a conventional combat power that was actually on par with Zhang Fei.

He thought to himself: If I had fought her two days ago, even if I could have won, I would likely have paid a significant price; it certainly wouldn't have been easy.

"To rapidly increase my strength, I must unleash the true combat power of Zhang Fei's blue card."

Yan Shuangling stared warily at the three approaching people, her palm already quietly gripping a card. Ye Suxuan spoke first, her loud voice breaking the silence: "Yan girl, you can't take down the Gluttonous Ghoul alone."

Yan Shuangling's brow furrowed when she heard the term "Yan girl," but knowing the personality of the Ye family's eldest daughter, she didn't make a fuss. She looked at Ye Suxuan with a cold expression, wanting to hear what she would say next.

"And so?"

A look of excitement immediately appeared on Ye Suxuan's doll-like face. She made a throat-slitting gesture and laughed loudly:

"Let's cooperate and take it out together. We'll discuss the ownership of the Domain Token later."

"No." Yan Shuangling's voice was raspy, but she wasn't stupid. She understood the subtext of Ye Suxuan's words: didn't it just mean whoever was stronger would get the Domain Token?

"The three of you are together. After killing the Gluttonous Ghoul, I can't trust your character."

Hearing them talk about a Domain Token, Gu Ye had no idea what it was.

Gu Ye approached Chu Ling and nudged him with his elbow, asking what a Domain Token was. Seeing that he didn't know, Chu Ling explained: "A Domain Token is a treasure that is guaranteed to drop after a Hidden Boss in any Card Domain dies. It's equivalent to a key to the Safe House's Treasury. Once you have it, you can enter the vault and choose three treasures from inside!"

Gu Ye was startled. He knew the Safe House was a temporary refuge within the Card Domain, but he had never imagined that the Safe House actually connected to the Treasury of the entire Card Domain.

"Well, not every Card Domain has a Safe House. Only Card Domains with Safe Houses will generate a Treasury. Inside, there are not only all the card-making materials of this Card Domain but also potential unknown treasures nurtured by World Power."

Gu Ye had another question: "Since this Domain Token is so important and the Blood Fiend Mechanical Forest Card Domain has existed for so long, why haven't the Noble Families killed the Hidden Boss and obtained the Domain Token yet?"

Chu Ling replied with one sentence, and Gu Ye understood the reason.

"Domain Tokens respawn!"

The two were talking so loudly that it was hard for Yan Shuangling not to hear. Her cool eyes looked at Gu Ye, and after a few seconds, she turned to Ye Suxuan and asked:

"Cooperation is fine, but between the four of us, once we get the Domain Token, how will the rewards inside be divided?"

Although Ye Suxuan looked quite bulky, it was a requirement of her profession; on the contrary, she usually fought using her brain. Regarding Yan Shuangling's question, a trace of contemplation flashed between her brows, and after a moment, she had an idea:

"To each according to their needs. The person who lands the final blow on the Gluttonous Ghoul will definitely take first place in this trial. The dropped card-making materials will be split equally. For the person who doesn't get a reward from the Treasury, the other three will compensate them with items of equal value."

"No problem for me." x2

After hearing this idea, Yan Shuangling felt it was feasible and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they had already discussed how to divide the rewards after killing the Gluttonous Ghoul, Gu Ye asked curiously:

"Then how do we find the Gluttonous Ghoul?"

Yan Shuangling spoke calmly: "You don't need to worry about that. The Card Maker Association specifically produced cards for tracking hidden bosses."

Gu Ye saw her pull a green card from the limited-edition card bag at her waist. There was one star on the card face as she displayed the card's information.

card: Dog-Nose Compass

Quality: Green - 1 Star

Category: Tool/Mystic

Skill:

Tracking:

When the user is within a certain Card Domain, it can locate the Hidden Boss within that domain.

Description: It has a dog nose attached. Other than tracking hidden bosses, it's useless for anything else.

The three of them looked at the description with complicated expressions. Yan Shuangling, however, looked as usual. She withdrew her Elegant Blade and led the way in the direction indicated by the compass. Gu Ye and Chu Ling glanced at each other and quickly followed.

The four of them shared their card information along the way to facilitate cooperation. Only then did Gu Ye finally learn some basic information about Yan Shuangling's card.

card: Twin-Blade General Slayer - Elegant Blade

Quality: Light Green - 1 Star

Category: Combat - General/Summon/Humanoid

Trait: Unknown

Skill:

Ice Breath Cold Blade:

Summons the cold energy within the Elegant Blade's body and attaches it to the katana. Slashes cause frostbite and increase the katana's sharpness. Also increases the Elegant Blade's ice attribute resistance.

Wood Plant Meditation:

Elegant Blade sits cross-legged to summon a spirit tree, slowly recovering from injuries and increasing resistance. The tree has a taunt effect; within the tree's range, enemies must attack the tree first.

Flame Body:

Burns the heart fire within the body to increase mental resistance. It blends with the internal cold energy to evolve into Ice-Flower Flame. Slashes carry burn and freeze effects, and attack power increases exponentially. The body melts, transforming into an Ice-Flower Flame Body, ignoring physical attacks.

...

Although Gu Ye and the others only knew a little about the Elegant Blade's information, the Flame Body skill alone made her very formidable. When Gu Ye saw Flame Body, he thought the Elegant Blade had eaten a Logia-type Devil Fruit.

Meanwhile, Yan Shuangling also learned most of the skills of Zhang Fei, who had clashed with her Elegant Blade last time. She looked at Gu Ye in a new light once again—as for when the first time was, who knew.

Outside the Blood Fiend Mechanical Forest, a group of teachers sat in small groups in a temporary area to cultivate. The Principal and the Grade Dean sat together, their thinning hair reflected in the pale light of the screens. Principal Zhang Deliang's fingers gripped the mouse so hard they turned white.

"Sigh! Another one dead."

The computers in front of them had been monitoring the life status of the students who entered the Card Domain in real-time. Two days into the Card Domain trial, nearly 100 students from Yunlin Second High School had already died.

The Grade Dean sighed, touched his sparse hair, and looked up at the Card Domain gate, remaining silent for a long time...

"This is the place!"

Yan Shuangling checked the needle of the Dog-Nose Compass and confirmed that the dilapidated church ahead was exactly where the Gluttonous Ghoul was hiding.

"Then what's there to say? Let's just go in and do it." Chu Ling's bulky body moved to the front. Seeing his reckless manner, Gu Ye instinctively wanted to cover his face. The two had similar builds, so why weren't their IQs on the same level?

"Smack~" A huge palm slapped his head. Ye Suxuan's face was dark with annoyance:

"Be quiet. Let's make a plan; we can't let it escape again."

"Who's there!"

At that moment, Gu Ye's eyes suddenly narrowed. He keenly captured a slight movement coming from the dense forest on the right and barked out a question. Chu Ling and the other two reacted instantly, immediately adopting defensive stances with their hands on their card bags, ready to summon their cards at any moment.

"Gu Ye, we meet again."

A voice full of resentment and hatred came from the darkness, chilling to the bone and making one shiver. In the barren Black Forest, three figures slowly emerged like ghosts.

"I certainly didn't want to see you. You're disgusting! Got it?" Gu Ye curled his lip.

The leader was none other than Li Jie, and standing beside him was his loyal little lackey, Tang De. Gu Ye glanced at the two of them and then ignored them completely, his gaze firmly locked on the stranger walking at the very front.

That man wore loose clothing similar to a Taoist robe, with jet-black long hair draped over his shoulders like silk. His temperament was ethereal, carrying a bit of an immortal, sage-like charm. His eyes were as deep as the sea, though a trace of hard-to-detect tension was hidden in their depths.

Yet his appearance was remarkably plain. When paired with that temperament and those deep eyes, it felt quite jarring.