Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Right.” Chen Mu nodded, not wasting any words.
Yuan Linghai felt his heart skip. There was some commotion among the onlookers, many of whom involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air. Those who didn’t understand were asking around about what the Golden Word Shackle was.
“What is your relationship to the esteemed Mo Ta?” Yuan Linghai asked coolly, having resumed his calm. From his point of view, the greatest possibility was that the ugly man had some sort of close relationship with Mo Ta. Teacher and disciple? Maybe father and son?
With Mo Ta listed as No. 89 on the Black-Line Star Listing, of course Yuan Linghai had to remain cautious. To provoke any of the guys on the Black-Line Star Listing would result in something worse than death. While he maintained his calm expression, he was inwardly shuddering. A vicious hothead like Yuan Linghai would only be afraid of someone still more vicious, and those on the listing doubtlessly fit the bill.
Just at that time, the group of young card artisans from Moon Frost Island arrived. Hearing what Yuan Linghai had said, they looked abruptly surprised.
The students at Moon Frost Island paid a lot more attention to the Black-Line Star Listing than outsiders might imagine. They were the true pride of the Heavenly Drum Village District. By just being able to graduate from the card artisan division, those students’ power would absolutely be above the level of a second-tier ace. The leaders among them would be reliably first-rate.
They weren’t satisfied by any of that, however; they were from Moon Frost Island, after all.
If one were to say they were from one of the regular sections, the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing might be considered out of their mainstream. But those were like a system unto themselves, with an inevitable sense of competition. If the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing weren’t considered powerful, the Moon Frost Island students wouldn’t be so interested in them. The strength of the Black-Line Star Listing had long since made an impression on people, including those from Moon Frost Island.
Not long before, the ninth on the listing, Yin Shanfei, had rebuffed Moon Frost Island’s inducements and afterward seriously wounded 16 Moon Frost Island card artisans. Among them was the 56th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, Han Cen. That affair had created a sensation at Moon Frost Island at the time.
Sixteen card artisans! They were all leaders and the pride of various departments. It was hard to imagine such an accomplishment. Among all the students at Moon Frost Island, probably only Bai Yue—who defeated the Gemini Twins from Desert Camp—could have achieved it. Han Cen’s power really stood out at Moon Frost Island.
Still, with Yin Shanfei only being listed as ninth on the Black-Line Star Listing, there were still eight in front of him! That affair had caused a huge stir at Moon Frost Island, and many of the students and professors started to pay more attention to the aces on the Black-Line Star Listing. Moon Frost Island had massive channels for information. Once they started to pay attention to the Black-Line Star Listing, they had a lot more access to insider information than others did. The more they researched it, the more they felt that the card artisans on the listing were extraordinary.
That group of students had no way to know all of that, but they were still quite familiar with the Black-Line Star Listing. So, when they heard what Yuan Linghai said, they were rather taken aback.
The first 100 on the listing made a kind of benchmark. Anyone who could get onto the first 100 was an ace, for sure! Listed as 89th, Mo Ta was naturally outstanding. The seven of them had all heard of him and his Golden Word Shackle.
Hearing that the golden chain in Chen Mu’s hands was the legendary Golden Word Shackle, their gazes abruptly focused on it as it swayed like seaweed. Their gazes were quite hot.
Although they were from Moon Frost Island, they still weren’t qualified to learn the truly finest legacies. While the cards they had were a lot more impressive than those of ordinary card artisans, if their cards were put in front of such an established card as the Golden Word Shackle, they would fall far short!
Mo Ta had entered the top 100 on the listing by virtue of that card, and his power had naturally long since been proven. Moreover, it really was a waste for such an awesome card to be in the hands of such an ugly man! Of course, some of them felt the injustice of that. On the one hand, they were red-eyed with jealousy to see it; on the other, they were wondering what kind of relationship that ugly guy really had with Mo Ta.
“I killed him.”
Chen Mu felt helpless about that perfectly calm statement. Such showing off didn’t sit well with him, but he must have said it twice already that day, which even left him rather speechless.
“You… You killed him?” Yuan Linghai lost his voice, his whole face showing disbelief. Everyone else nearby was also dumbfounded, and even the Moon Frost Island students were struck dumb like wooden chickens. That was certainly a bombshell.
The first to react was the one in the lead of that group of students. “Who is this guy?” he muttered.
After the initial silence, the crowd erupted.
Chen Mu frowned when he saw the crowd’s intense reaction. “Don’t waste words; let’s go!” Of course, one could see from the glint in his eyes that Yuan Linghai was a lot more powerful than Ji Ming.
However, Yuan Linghai unexpectedly lowered his head and made a polite bow, his head nearly touching the ground. “If your eminence could kill Mo Ta, Linghai is certainly not your equal. I admit defeat and willingly submit to your esteemed disposal.”
The crowd burst out again, but no one was surprised at Yuan Linghai’s choice. Although he was powerful, he certainly couldn’t get into the top 100 of the Black-Line Star Listing. For the ugly man to have been able to kill the 89th on the list, he would have no problem dealing with Yuan Linghai.
Even the students of the Linghai Training Camp looked relieved. From their initial gazes full of hatred and anger, they had quickly turned reverential. The seven students from Moon Frost Island looked shocked, that news having had a big impact on them.
It was then Chen Mu’s turn to be a little bewildered. He hadn’t thought Yuan Linghai would so easily admit defeat without even a fight. Had his plans come to nothing? Looking at Yuan Linghai being so submissive, Chen Mu couldn’t help but inwardly sneer. He didn’t really have any beef with Yuan Linghai himself. Given how defeated he looked, he would never be able to kill Yuan Linghai!
Looking mildly at Yuan Linghai’s defeated face, Chen Mu walked straight over to where Ah Sang and the rest were. He said to Ah Sang in a low voice, “Go back.”
Ah Sang respectfully bowed in response. Everyone then turned their attention to her and her group.
“Isn’t that the daughter of the boss of the Chichi Trading Firm, Ah Sang?”
“I think you’re right. It looks like the Chichi Trading Firm now has some big backer! No wonder this esteemed fellow came looking for trouble with Yuan Linghai, with how many times he had bullied the Chichi Trading Firm!
“Indeed! Indeed! It’s all been proven in one report after another!”
* * *
The sounds of discussion in the crowd came from all over, and everyone was looking at Yuan Linghai with contempt. He had made too many enemies and had now lost face before the entire city. While everyone could understand his final admission of defeat, they still felt his lack of courage. Those who’d had run-ins with him were really gloating.
One of the female students from Moon Frost Island asked a little suspiciously, “Would you say that what he’s saying is true or false, elder classmate?” She was named Lin Yao and had just turned 20 that year.
The lead card artisan they referred to as elder classmate was called Zeng Yushan. He was a steady person and just about the right sort of ace for Moon Frost Island.
Lin Yao had the same suspicions as everyone else, and all of their gazes fell onto Zeng Yushan. That elder student hadn’t been leading them for long, but he had already succeeded in winning their confidence.
Zeng Yushan said thoughtfully, “I don’t really know. It doesn’t seem to me that he’s lying. After a couple more days, this month’s Black-Line Star Listing will be out, so we’ll find out if it’s true or not.”
Everyone nodded.
Chen Mu was unoccupied by the time he got back to the Chichi Trading Firm. He didn’t know where Wei-ah had gone, there being no sign of him. Wei-ah seemed more and more mysterious. Chen Mu was curious about what Wei-ah had recovered of his memories.
Not seeing Wei-ah, though, it wouldn’t do any good to make wild guesses. Since Chen Mu was actually free, he asked Ah Sang for a training room where he could practice by himself.
The Golden Word Shackle was certainly a sharp tool. The more he practiced it, the more he felt that way. Unlike the Patterned Shuttle and the Hundred Changes he had made, the Golden Word Shackle had a lot more transformations. The ones who had been using the card had never been able to verify it, but the card master who could make such an awesome card couldn’t have been a simple person.
The golden energy chain once again appeared in Chen Mu’s hands. Every link had an entirely different composition. That was the true essence of that energy chain. Those different and fine compositions for each link seemed to constitute many precise, complex locks. The most wonderful thing was that as fine and complex as the locks were, the accompanying keys were strangely simple.
The key to opening a function was a single-syllable word. That was a marvelous kind of creativity. Even if one knew its principle, though, it wasn’t going to be easy to fumble about for the words. Apart from needing the key, one still needed to find the corresponding lock while using it, so the key would fit. There were three words overall that Chen Mu had groped out by then: bam, save, and bind.
What he needed to do now was to continue groping to see if he could find the corresponding key for every lock. It was boring work that required a lot of luck. He could never tell what the corresponding word might be for the lock in front of him. That was also why Chen Mu had still only found three words after spending a lot of time.
Now that he thought about it, however, what he was more interested in was how to use a single syllable to activate an energy composition. Too bad he didn’t have the time just then to put into researching card making.
He couldn’t refrain from sighing as he immersed himself in the Golden Word Shackle to continue the incredibly difficult groping for words.
