Yang had been working on studying the card creation book for days. As he practiced creating cards again and again, he realized that the blank cards, while more expensive than the talisman papers used in the cultivation world, were better in one significant way.

  A blank crystal card could be worked on until you successfully created a functional card. Once you set your pen to the card, you were supposed to inscribe the design in continuous strokes. If you stopped and lifted the pen from the card, the energy dispersed and you had to begin again from scratch.

  But the card itself remained intact. Reusable for another attempt.

  The design was supposed to form a closed loop. You started from a point and the inscription ultimately ended right at the point where you started, making a complete circuit that fixed the pattern and made it ready to be activated.

  Yang supposed he should be thankful to Elder Fu Ming for making him practice the basics of talisman creation so extensively before starting on actual talismans. Because he found that while qi was completely different from whatever this so-called energy in this world was, it formed similar patterns and pathways.

  The way energy moved to create a light card was not dissimilar to the illumination talisman he'd worked so hard on. Actually, the similarity must be due to the shapes and designs themselves. There was something familiar in the geometric patterns, something universal about how power flowed through certain configurations. He noticed it more clearly as he kept practicing.

  Due to his talisman practice, his deposition of energy on the card was perfect. Steady and controlled. But it still took Yang a few tries to complete the closed loop design for the light card.

  He also ran out of energy in the stone midway through one attempt. Yang wanted to curse badly, but he just sighed deeply as he watched the three-quarters completed design fade on the card. He took out another stone to replace the depleted one in the crystal pen.

  As he worked, Yang realized that apart from the energy stone itself, there was something about the crystal card that drew his attention. It accepted the energy too easily. Yang could say with his rather mediocre and short-term experience in talisman making that the card took in energy better than talisman paper took in qi-infused cinnabar ink.

  The absorption was smoother. More efficient. Like the crystal was hungry for the power being inscribed into it.

  It took three days, but Yang finally managed to make a complete light card.

  He picked it up, and it looked beautiful, like a piece of art. As the loop of the design closed and the end met the starting point, the whole inscribed pattern glowed in the same shade as the energy stone before settling into a light steady glow on the inscription. The green luminescence traced the geometric pattern like veins of light frozen in crystal.

  It looks beautiful, Yang thought as he held the completed card.

  Yang was happy to have created this, but the joy wasn't even one-tenth of what he'd felt when he'd finally created his first illumination talisman. The success was marred by being ripped away from what Yang had come to recognize as his home.

  Yang admired the card. It looked like paraiba tourmalines encrusted on a thin sheet of ice or diamond. Ethereal would be the right word. These cards transcended mere beauty. They were functional art pieces.

  Yang took hold of the card and willed it to activate.

  Light bloomed from the inscription. Soft and diffused. Illuminating the shabby room with gentle radiance far cleaner than lamplight.

  That was rather easy, Yang thought, surprised at how simple activation was. Just intent. No complex hand seals or qi circulation required.

  As Yang activated and deactivated the light card again and again, testing it, he realized something. Rather than the design or the energy stone, he felt the crystal card itself was the most magical component. He didn't have a better analogy, but it was like the design was a circuit, the energy stone provided power, while the card itself was the main body and engine.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  He also noticed as he flipped the card over and set it on the desk to start working on another one, that cards were far more useful than talismans in practical terms. They could be used again and again until destroyed. Talismans were strictly one-time use. Except for some made by powerful cultivators that could be reused a fixed number of times, but none that were infinitely reusable like these cards were.

  Yang thought about this as he got back to more important work. Mainly creating different types of cards, since he couldn't submit five of the same type to the Cardwright Union. They required variety to prove basic competence.

  But before that, he needed to check something.

  Yang closed his eyes and plunged into his Sea of Consciousness. He navigated to one of the web's threads and peered into its reflection at the status bar.

  [0.0360% Energy]

  From 0.0010% to 0.0360%. A rather significant increase, Yang thought with a smile.

  Card creation fed the status bar. Much faster than passive accumulation.

  Yang opened his eyes and delved into card creation again with renewed determination.

  ..................................................................................................................................................................

  Ten weeks later.

  Yang stretched in his chair as he finally put down the fifth and final card needed to apply to the Cardwright Union on his desk. He rolled his shoulders, working out the stiffness from hours of focused inscription work.

  The light card had been the easiest, mainly because of his recent and rather extensive experience with illumination talismans. The other cards had taken much longer time and considerably more failed attempts.

  Yang understood now why Lucien had never been able to complete a single card. While the book was accurate in its instructions, it taught in the most awful way. Dry technical descriptions with no context or understanding of underlying principles.

  Yang had only managed to create all five cards because of Elder Fu Ming's lectures, which had helped him immensely in understanding the design philosophy for different types of talismans. Why certain patterns created certain effects. How energy flow related to function. If it weren't for having taken those talisman classes, Yang would still be stuck working on these cards and his status bar would still be dangerously low on energy.

  Right now it sat at a much more respectable level.

  [0.95% Energy]

  Still a bit away from the full first percentage point, but not bad compared to what he would have had if he'd relied on passive accumulation alone. At this rate, filling the bar completely would take years rather than millennia.

  Yang examined the five cards spread across his desk.

  First was the light card. The one he'd completed first. Its inscription glowed with soft green luminescence. When activated, it illuminated a room with dispersed, gentle light. Perfect for reading or working without the harsh glare of lamps or the smoke of candles.

  Second was a fireball card. Its inscription was more aggressive, the pattern sharper and more angular. When activated, it was supposed to launch a ball of fire at a target. Yang hadn't actually activated it because he didn't want to set things on fire in his small wooden room. But he'd studied the completed pattern carefully and was confident it would work as intended.

  Third was an air purifying card. Yang had activated this one immediately after completing it and couldn't bear to deactivate it. The damn smoke that permeated Markech was killing him. After living on White Cloud Sect's pristine outer sect peak with its clean mountain air, this city's pollution might as well have been the deepest pits of hell.

  He'd actually made a duplicate air purifying card because one wasn't enough. Now both ran constantly, creating a bubble of clean breathable air in his room. It was the only thing making life in this world bearable.

  Fourth was a cutting card. Yang had been careful enough to acquire a log of wood to test this one on because he didn't want to accidentally cut through the wall and harm his neighbors or attract unwanted attention.

  As Yang had rather magnificent images of using the card to cut through swathes of enemies with a single throw, he couldn't resist wanting to see it in action. But apparently, such grand dreams would have to remain dreams, because the cutting card was primarily used to cut vegetables and cloth.

  The person was supposed to hold it between their fingers and swipe it in the intended direction of how they wanted the cut. A favorite tool of chefs and tailors. A two-in-one scissor and knife.

  Yang had been disappointed but also amused. Of course, the basic cards were truly basic. Household tools, not weapons.

  The fifth and final was a water spray card. When activated, it produced a gentle spray of water. Used to water plants or clean surfaces. Essentially a magical watering can.

  So here was Yang, ready with his arsenal of torch, lighter, air purifier, watering can, and dual-use scissor/knife cards. Ready to enter the building of the Cardwright Association and register as an official card creator.

  The thought was both exciting and terrifying. This would be Yang's first real interaction with this world's power structure. His first step toward becoming part of the system rather than just an outsider struggling in poverty.

  Yang gathered the five cards carefully and placed them in the pocket of his coat. He checked his appearance in the cracked mirror. Lucien's blonde hair was cleaner than it had been when Yang first arrived. His face was less gaunt after ten weeks of regular meals, even if those meals were meager.

  He looked presentable. Poor, certainly, but not destitute. Not someone who would be turned away immediately.

  Yang took a deep breath. This was it. Time to see if his work was good enough.

  Yang opened the door and stepped out into the gray streets of Markech.

  The Cardwright Association building awaited.