The night passed without incident.

The next morning, as his biological clock dictated, Chronicle promptly opened his eyes.

He reached out to pull back the tent flap and saw Wang Yan and the buzz-cut youth had just seen off a trench-coated young man named “Zhang Tao.”

“Chronicle Brother, good morning.”

Ginger Tea spoke listlessly, her face adorned with huge dark circles, clearly having had a poor night’s sleep.

“I hardly slept at all.”

As if reading Chronicle’s mind, she propped her cheek with her hand and said, “Knowing full well we were going to lose this round, yet still having to painstakingly prepare for the ‘4 into 2’, it’s truly top-tier torture.”

“There’s always a chance, don’t be too disheartened. Maybe you’ll make it through,” Chronicle said with a smile.

“I’d rather not.” Ginger Tea ruffled her messy hair. “Competing with you guys who are like cheats, the pressure is immense.”

“You have no idea. Gao Sheng, Yu Anran, Ren Wang and the others, from capturing materials to creating cards, they didn’t even take twelve hours. Their speed of thought is simply inhuman.”

The young girl spoke as if something occurred to her, then gently nudged Chronicle’s arm with her elbow. “Chronicle Brother, have you finished making your card?”

Chronicle nodded slightly in response to her question.

“How long did it take?” Ginger Tea asked with a face full of curiosity.

“I finished it yesterday afternoon. My head hurt from thinking up the story, and I didn’t sleep well.”

Chronicle said, raising his hand to rub his temples.

He had indeed stayed up late working on the design until one in the morning and had not slept well.

However, with the card feedback from Daiyu and the spiritual energy supply from the 【Sprite】 trait, his condition was actually better than usual.

“Yesterday afternoon? So, from getting the materials to finishing the card, it only took you a few hours?”

Ginger Tea fell silent, and after a long while, she squeezed out a word, “Shift.”

“Take it easy. I was just lucky that the materials I encountered happened to match the drafts I had written before, and then I made it. Whether I’ll have such luck in the future is another matter.”

Chronicle knew how to comfort people.

It’s just that he had an overabundance of “drafts” in his belly, so many that he could never use them all up.

He had even considered taking out some of the less important strange tales and scraps to establish a card crafting organization of his own.

Loyalty wouldn’t be a concern at all.

With the world’s emphasis on “knowledge,” as long as he registered the “copyright” first, even if someone used the stories he provided to create cards, they would be restricted at every turn.

And if he also signed an additional “Knowledge Borrowing Supplement Agreement” with the other party under the supervision of the auditing system,

Then, as long as the other party violated the rules and became his enemy, he could remotely destroy their cards, turning them into a vegetative state.

As for whether anyone would be willing to sign such a harsh agreement…

There was no shortage of takers.

“Knowledge” is something that people in this world desperately seek but cannot obtain.

Due to strict audits and the large number of card craftsmen over the centuries, most of the card crafting paths that could be thought of under limited thinking have been “squeezed” full.

Therefore, it’s common for card craftsmen to toil over stories on cold winter nights, begging for a single word in vain.

In such a situation, when Chronicle kicked open their door with a story that was rubbish in his eyes but a complete gem in others’,

He was truly a “god.”

After all, this is a high-risk world. If there’s a big shot willing to help complete a broken path, no one would refuse.

Even if it meant being controlled by others, it was much better than suffering every day.

And people are lazy by nature.

Those who could still come up with a couple of stories would soon be unable to think of anything else once they had tasted Chronicle’s “knowledge aid.”

For the rest of their lives, they could only follow Chronicle.

Gathering materials for him, shielding him from overt and covert attacks, warming his bed (strike that).

In short, establishing a card crafting organization in this world is a very reliable thing to do.

As long as you have stories to control, others won’t easily betray you.

Under such circumstances, let alone organizations like the Seven Brothers and the Fusion Faction with high-minded ideological cores, even if you created the Holy Fire Meow Meow Sect, the Sky Flight Pasta God Sect, or the Make Some Noise at Night Sect, there would be people willing to go through fire and water for you.

Looking at it this way, as long as Chronicle was willing, he could completely support an organization like the Scenic Order.

Unfortunately, he currently lacked a base of operations.

Establishing an organization like this doesn’t require much strength.

As long as he didn’t put out particularly good stories, the alliance and certain organizations wouldn’t care.

If you’re weak, form a smaller group; if you’re strong, form a larger one.

If you can’t manage a sect or faction, a club or study group is still possible.

But to establish an organization, you need a base.

And it’s best to have your own “house” on both Blue Star and Great Scenery.

With Chronicle’s current conditions, he naturally couldn’t afford it.

But he was very clear in his mind that as long as he established an organization, even if it was just a small Orient Loong God study group with a few people, his strength would surge.

“Maybe I’ll give it a try when the conditions are better.”

“Ba Tian, You You and the others all have family backgrounds, so they definitely won’t follow me for now, but commoner card craftsmen like Ah Yuan, who don’t have such great talent, can definitely be recruited.”

“However… I still need to observe for a while.”

“Knock knock!”

The sudden knocking sound interrupted Chronicle’s thoughts.

He looked up to see the buzz-cut youth had brought Zhang Tao back, and was now extending his left hand out of the car window, gently tapping on the door: “Ginger Tea, get in the car.”

“Coming!”

Upon hearing this, Ginger Tea immediately trotted to the car, not forgetting to look back at Chronicle and say, “Year go… Chronicle Brother, goodbye!”

“Hmm?”

Chronicle frowned slightly.

He thought he had just heard an incredible pronunciation.

But Ginger Tea was already far away in the car, so he could only make a note of it in his little book to have a good exchange (or perhaps a roast) with her later.

“Let’s take a stroll nearby.”

Chronicle got up to stretch and then slowly strolled around with Daiyu’s company.

Their current location was on the southwestern outskirts of the Green Mountain Secret Realm, adjacent to the Land of Peach Secret Realm, the Underground Palace Secret Realm, and the Cloud Sea Secret Realm.

Looking east, the familiar giant peach tree stood tall in the distance, its branches twisted, forming a massive gateway.

From here, it was evident that this giant tree, growing in the crevices of the world, might span thousands of miles in its coiled length.

“Terrifying indeed.”

Inside the fence, Chronicle couldn’t help but gasp at the cold noodles Ying Tai had just made for him.

Then he turned to look south.

There stood a “clay giant” only slightly shorter than the ancient peach tree of the Land of Peach.

Majestically erect, solemn and dignified, its sword pointed directly at the Land of Peach.

Its posture seemed as if it were commanding thousands of troops to fight to the death against the ghosts and monsters emerging from the “Peach Gate.”

Though made of clay, it possessed a certain grandeur.

Beneath its “feet” was the entrance to the Underground Palace Secret Realm.

It was also a famous underworld secret realm in the Nine Provinces, known for its various monsters that preferred dark environments, including demons and ghosts.

It’s worth mentioning that this place not only contains various material resources but also harbors many precious mineral sources unique to Great Scenery.

Using those materials to craft equipment cards not only has the chance to enhance the quality and skills of the finished cards but may also unlock new advancement paths.

For this reason, the Underground Palace Secret Realm has been a “must-contend-for land” for the military for hundreds of years.

Looking north, there was a vast sea of clouds.

Mist and fog twined, with the sounds of phoenixes and cranes.

The clouds rolled like waves, resembling a fairyland.

Located in Cloud Top Province, it was the most dangerous secret realm in the eastern lands of the Nine Provinces.

It was still in a state of development.

It was said that only two of the first group of experts from the Town Abyss Army managed to escape.

One died of nightmares that very night, and the other went mad, unable to utter a complete sentence, just repeating the word “eyes” over and over.

When the mad sect leader of the Three Deficiencies Sect heard about this, he had the man captured and cruelly gouged out his eyes to reflect the images he had seen using a skill card.

As a result… he went even madder, and his eyes were blinded.

But he was still one of the notable experts in the Nine Provinces, and he managed to leave behind a very strange phrase, “Child, don’t be afraid.”

Afterward, the cards in his sea of consciousness exploded, and he was blown to pieces.

Only a slightly blackened gold tooth remained intact and was even snatched away by a bird.

“These secret realms are more dangerous than the next, and I don’t know how the common people of Great Scenery manage to survive in them.”

Looking at the beautiful scenery on all three sides, Chronicle couldn’t help but feel a headache.

“Green Mountain and the Land of Peach are dangerous, but you don’t just die upon entering.”

“This Cloud Sea Secret Realm sounds so heavenly, and it looks like a fairyland, but why does it sound even more chilling than Green Mountain and the Land of Peach?”

“Everyone’s on board!”

A call suddenly pulled Chronicle out of his thoughts.

He turned to see Ginger Tea had been brought back by the buzz-cut youth and was now timidly hiding from him.

The one speaking to him was Wang Yan.

This fellow, dressed in a Taoist-like robe and exuding an air of immortality, had somehow driven a large transport truck here, and was now sticking his head out of the window and shouting loudly, creating a very discordant scene.

“Coming!”

Chronicle responded.

Following the crowd, he boarded the truck bed.

Wang Yan drove steadily, and the ride wasn’t too bumpy.

For safety reasons, they didn’t travel far, just around the campsite.

After getting off the truck, Chronicle decisively declined Yan Lou’s invitation to search for materials together.

With Daiyu, who was remodeled from the local snake 【Blood Tear Spirit Grass Essence】, Chronicle could easily gather materials on his own.

There was no need to go with others.

Whose materials would they be if they found them?

“Let’s go.”

Chronicle patted Daiyu’s slender shoulder.

Although the others were also crafting cards based on native creatures of Green Mountain, the stories they forced out in a short time were just “barely” passable.

The card spirits they created were “dumb as bricks,” almost devoid of any spirituality, and any memories of their former selves were long gone.

And you expect it to lead the way?

It would be good if it didn’t get lost itself.

With the enhancement of the 【Talent】 trait, Chronicle’s Daiyu was not only capable of performing simple tasks, but its thinking was also far superior to card spirits of the same quality and star level.

It could even understand Chronicle’s flurry of words and gestures.

It led him straight to its former “bestie’s” lair.

Helping Chronicle harvest materials like 【Green Mountain Blood Hibiscus Essence】, 【Green Riverbank Caressing Wind Willow】, and 【Night Fang Singing Mute Bluebird】, which sounded like “girls” by their names.

Then there were the archenemies of its former self, the Blood Tear Spirit Grass Essence.

Materials like 【Spit Upon and Still Timid Essence】, 【Midnight Wall-Climbing ‘Silver’ Heartworm】, and 【Thief-Eyed Three-Inch Evil Spirit】 were also quite distinctive green-grade materials.

It’s worth mentioning that Seven Brothers was a bit strange today.

At first, he stared at Daiyu, then turned his gaze to Chronicle, unable to suppress a laugh.