Nine o'clock at night.

 

Land of Peach City, Card Craftsman Association Building.

 

The paper man with a sinister smile walked lightly, carrying a flower sedan on his shoulders.

 

As he walked, it felt like a gust of wind passing by, casting a chilling shadow under the blue moonlight.

 

"We're here."

 

As Chronicle's voice fell, the paper man procession gradually slowed down, skillfully stopping the sedan by the roadside.

 

"Phew."

 

Looking at the nearby association building, Chronicle couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and walked inside.

 

While organizing his small treasury, he realized that not all of the six materials he bought two days ago could be used for General Zeng's creation.

 

"The cards 'Shadowy Doppelganger', 'Terrifying Ghost Mask', 'Limping Ghost-Evading Steps', and 'Mysterious Three-Phase Flower Dan' can be used, but 'Yang Fork Ghost Farmer' and 'Cold Steel Penetrating Fork' are obviously more suitable for General Zeng's creation, as he is a damage-dealing general who only kills and doesn't save, according to the setting."

 

He thought to himself as he pushed open the door of the building, "Then I'll save these two materials for now and wait until I have the rest of the materials to complete General Zeng's creation. For now, I'll just buy the fire sign and handcuffs."

 

Fortunately, these relatively common material items were always available in the warehouse.

 

Just as he arrived, the familiar receptionist girl was on duty. Chronicle directly took out the cash he obtained yesterday, totaling one hundred thousand, and took out a small bottle of spiritual power potion from his spatial backpack.

 

He smoothly exchanged the two blue material items named 'Yin-Yang Judgment Dark Pattern Fire Sign' and 'Burning Black Hanging Thorn Handcuffs' for them.

 

"Money really doesn't last long…"

 

Chronicle said to himself as he left the association building with the two new cards in his possession.

 

Now, apart from some unused materials and potions, he only had a few tens of thousands of dollars in cash.

 

"As a Card Craftsman, it's really pitiful to be in such a state."

 

Chronicle muttered to himself, got back on the flower sedan, and returned to school.

 

At this time, the first-year students who had just finished their outdoor survival training for the day had returned home or to their dormitories to rest.

 

The second-year and third-year students were respectively studying for the qualification exams of the 'Ordinary Card Craftsman', 'Card Craftsman', 'Restoration Craftsman', and 'Enhancement Craftsman', as well as the unified entrance exam for the Nine Provinces. They were all attending evening self-study.

 

Therefore, the entire school was illuminated by lights at this moment.

 

Wearing his school uniform jacket, Chronicle walked alone on a small path where the streetlights flickered and the grass exuded an eerie atmosphere, and returned to his dormitory.

 

After half a month of absence, the room still looked the same as when he left, but it had accumulated a thin layer of dust and had a slightly unpleasant smell.

 

Seeing this, Chronicle couldn't help but frown.

 

As someone who liked cleanliness, he quickly went to the water room to get a mop and a cloth, then summoned Yingtai with a wave of his hand and handed these two items to the naive-looking girl.

 

As the saying goes, "If you don't clean your own house, how can you sweep the world?"

 

Improvement should not only be reflected in battle, but also in the tasks that Card Spirits should undertake for Card Craftsmen!

 

"Phew."

 

Chronicle stood at the balcony after finding a good reason for himself, looking at the scenery outside the window.

 

About twenty minutes later, Yingtai walked out of the room with her sleeves rolled up, carrying a mop and a bucket.

 

With a gentle touch of her fair fingers, she indicated that the dormitory had been cleaned.

 

After checking, Chronicle nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, now I have a 'little housekeeper'."

 

"This is the power of Transcendent, enjoying it is necessary. It would be foolish to become stronger just for the sake of becoming stronger."

 

He thought to himself and called out, "Yingtai, come and massage my head."

 

Feeling the cool aura flowing into his brain through his temples, he adjusted his breathing and consciousness, and entered his sea of consciousness.

 

"Now, let's start General Zeng's creation."

 

Chronicle thought as he picked up his brush and wrote the three characters 'General Zeng' in the void with ease.

 

A golden light flashed, and the card's true name was determined, entering the information filling stage.

 

With a draft in mind, he directly wrote:

 

"General Zeng, originally a notorious thousand-year ghost king causing chaos in the mortal world."

 

"Later, he was influenced by the vow of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and entered the realm of hell, sharing the position of guardian with General Sun. He is known as the 'Head of the Officials'."

 

"He is responsible for supervising good and evil in the mortal world, with clear division of labor."

 

"General Sun is ruthless towards evil, damaging their fortunes upon encountering them. General Zeng is gentle and bestows blessings upon encountering virtuous people. Thus, they are known as the 'Two Generals of Damage and Increase'."

 

"Whenever Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva descends to the mortal world, the two guardian generals clear the way for him, wielding tridents, fire signs, and handcuffs, sweeping away all evil spirits and malevolent energies."

 

"With incense burning above their heads and stepping on the Seven Star Gang, they eliminate all evil and travel across the world, earning the respect of the people."

 

As each line of text was written, the card's true name in the void burst into even brighter golden light.

 

The originally empty sea of consciousness was suddenly engulfed in flames, accompanied by sharp cries of pain.

 

Agony, resentment, malevolence, despair…

 

All the bad words that people could think of were not enough to describe Chronicle's feelings at this moment.

 

"Territory…"

 

Chronicle thought, and made a stroke in the void with his brush.

 

In the next moment, a virtual image of a celestial being appeared at the end of his sea of consciousness, wearing a crown, draped in heavenly robes, with an indistinguishable face, and surrounded by cherry blossoms.

 

Profound in Buddhist teachings, radiant in golden light.And at the moment He appeared, a chanting sound suddenly rang out in the vast white world, like the morning bell of an ancient temple, grand and vast.

 

Mixed with the hellish illusions of ice and fire, barren mountains, stagnant water, and desperate wailing, they also dissipated.

 

Chronicle stood in place, staring at this shocking scene, his eyes flickering.

 

Seven Brothers and Eight Brothers also released from their card state at this time, standing beside him, looking into the distance, with a hint of spirituality in their eyes.

 

In this way, after a few minutes, many illusions gradually dissipated.

 

Chronicle took a deep breath, picked up the card pen, and drew the card pattern on the floating canvas in the void:

 

Under the night sky, the serene and solemn temple was not lit, only a few sticks of incense remained, emitting flickering firelight.

 

Two majestic figures with red and blue faces sat steadily in front of the hall, holding fire divination sticks, handcuffs, and tiger cards, with divine light in their eyes and starlight above their heads.

 

"Phew, finally finished drawing."

 

Chronicle wiped away the nonexistent sweat and then flipped the card pen, removed the cap, and revealed the small carving knife.

 

Then, smoothly and effortlessly, he engraved the summoning card pattern on the back of the card, which had shrunk back to the size of a poker card.

 

In no time, it was finished.

 

In an instant, the sea of knowledge surged, and two figures walked out of the white mist, one with a red face and fangs, and the other with a blue mask with intricate patterns.

 

It was the "Increase" of the official general:

 

[Chaotic World Fiend · General Increase]

 

Quality: Blue

 

Level: ★★★★

 

Category: Ghost/God

 

Card Type: Summon

 

Skills:

 

[Arrest]: General Increase wields instruments of punishment, and when facing spiritual units, each strike has a certain probability of "arresting" them into the sea of knowledge.

 

[Clone]: Consumes a certain amount of spiritual power to transform into red and blue faces. The clone has the same strength as the original body and does not consume additional spiritual power during battles.

 

[Seven Stars]: General Increase steps on the seven stars and dances with a limp, consuming a large amount of spiritual power to summon the illusion of the "Big Dipper". Wherever the starlight shines, spiritual units of purple quality and below cannot actively disengage from battle and have a certain probability of entering a "rigid" state.

 

Characteristics:

 

[Dual Nature]: General Increase has both red and blue faces. Red-faced General Increase holds fire divination sticks, unlocking the Dizang series of salvation spells; blue-faced General Increase wields handcuffs, unlocking the Yincao series of combat techniques.

 

[Block Evil]: General Increase walks the eight corners of the world, encountering virtuous people to increase their blessings and longevity. Units with the "virtuous" trait within ten meters of General Increase are not affected by negative energies such as yin, evil, and corpse qi.

 

[Ghost King]: General Increase was once the Ghost King who caused chaos in the mortal world. When facing spiritual units, there is a certain probability of causing them to enter negative states such as "fear" and "panic", a low probability of forcing them to retreat, and an extremely low probability of forcing them to join our side.

 

Introduction: With three incense sticks on the head, stepping on the seven stars of Great Yu. Once the fiend king that caused chaos, now the ghost-slaying guardian general!

 

Advanced Direction: [Dizang Guardian · General Increase] (Purple) → [Walking the Eight Corners · General Increase] (Orange)

 

Advanced Mission: Fight alongside the [Damage General] series, suppress a unit with a star rating not lower than its own and fits the "demonic" or "ghost king" positioning in a specific scene.

 

Bond: When fighting alongside the [Damage General] series, the bond effect [Official General] can be activated.

 

***

 

Rows of card information instantly flooded Chronicle's mind.

 

Looking at the four stars drawn behind the card level, his eyes couldn't help but flicker. "Four stars… starting with a full star, it's worth the money."

 

Should he say it or not, his luck today is really extraordinary.

 

Although the initial quality and star rating of the card are indeed influenced by the materials used, the probability of starting with a full star is still very low.

 

Generally speaking, the more solid the background of the story of a card, the more difficult it is to upgrade and advance.

 

To start with a full star is extremely rare, belonging to an event with an extremely low probability.

 

"I'm really lucky tonight."

 

Chronicle smiled and looked at the "Advanced Mission" column.

 

He had heard from Xie Wenyuan before that most of the high-potential summoning cards cannot be advanced simply by accumulating resources, but by completing certain specific "advanced missions".

 

Looking at it this way, the potential of Zongzi Brother without his true name is indeed inferior to that of General Increase, Seven Brothers, and Eight Brothers.

 

Chronicle thought to himself and shook his head.

 

Although he often persecuted and bullied Old Zongzi, he was very clear in his heart that among his current card spirits, only the other party would accompany him to the end as a "summoning card".

 

As for Seven Brothers, Eight Brothers, and Yingtai, if they couldn't find a way to open up new advanced routes, they would most likely become part of a certain field card in the end.

 

"Forget it, why think so much. At least for now, Zongzi Brother is still the weakest. The road ahead is still long."

 

He thought to himself and waved to General Increase from a distance, as a welcome gesture.

 

General Increase responded with a classic "nod", and the black-gold crown feathers on his head trembled.

 

Immediately after, he turned into a blue-purple stream of light and drilled into Chronicle's hand.

 

"The skills and characteristics are not bad."

 

Chronicle made a simple evaluation and suddenly felt a gust of cold wind on his neck.

 

Turning his head, he saw that Seven Brothers and Eight Brothers had appeared by his side without knowing when.

 

At this moment, one of them used his height advantage to place his hands on Chronicle's shoulders and looked down at the card face, while the other pretended to be indifferent and stole glances from the corner of his eye.

 

"Hey, Seven Brothers, your tongue is almost touching the card."

 

Chronicle made a casual joke.

 

A white shadow flickered, transforming back into a card with a deep blue border.

 

Eight Brothers cleared his throat silently, walked over to the hanging coffin where Zongzi Brother was sleeping, and started to exercise vigorously, using it as his workout equipment.

 

Zongzi Brother woke up from his "dream", about to get angry.

 

He lifted the coffin lid, poked his head out, and came face to face with a pale, rigid face.

 

Immediately, he backed down, quickly retracting his head and obediently lying back down in the coffin.

 

When dealing with the gentle Seven Brothers, as the youngest brother, he could occasionally throw a tantrum.

 

But when facing the hot-tempered Eight Brothers… it was better to stay put.

 

Otherwise, he would get a good beating.

 

"Interesting."

 

Chronicle stood in place, watching for a while. With a command of "return", he was back to reality in the next moment.

 

Before he could open his eyes, he felt a cool sensation spreading from his temples.

 

An hour had passed since he started making the card, and the little girl was still tirelessly massaging his temples.

 

Through the mirror on the table, Chronicle saw the doll-like face, delicate features, devoid of any life, but full of concentration.

 

"Yingtai, go rest over there."

 

Chronicle, in a rare act of kindness, unplugged his charging phone from the bedside table and handed it to Yingtai, suggesting she play a few games.

 

"It's been charging for over an hour, and it's only at sixty percent. And it's so hot. It's time to change this phone."

 

Chronicle muttered, not giving it much thought. He got up, stretching his shoulders, and headed for the bathroom, oblivious to the flicker in the little girl's eyes.

 

Soon, half an hour passed.

 

After receiving feedback from General Zeng's card creation, Chronicle's condition gradually improved.

 

He felt invigorated, a surge of energy flowing through his limbs, making him feel as if his physical fitness could rival that of Ash Ketchum and Kyougoku Makoto.

 

"But that's just physical fitness. I'm still far behind in terms of power techniques and on-the-spot responses."

 

"When I have the resources, I could spend a lot of money on martial arts materials and create some special skill cards."

 

Chronicle thought to himself, did a quick stretch, called Yingtai to get up, and they left the school gate, got into the sedan, and headed in the opposite direction of the training base.

 

…

 

It was now late at night.

 

The moon was bright, the stars sparse, and the ghost sparrows flew south.

 

Under the faint light, Chronicle propped his face with one hand, glanced at the map, and then put it away.

 

"This ghost nest is really out of the way…"

 

Chronicle murmured, turning his head to look outside the sedan.

 

He had wanted to clear out this ghost nest and create the "Ghost Soldier" card a few days ago.

 

But the ghost nest was too far from the training base, so he hadn't come until now.

 

Now that General Zeng had appeared, it was a good opportunity to test the card.

 

(End of the chapter)