Herbal Juice Waterproof

Finally, it was Yun Huang who broke the silence first.

She slowly withdrew her hand, stiffly pushing the door shut again.

"You two... carry on with your sparring."

"It's nothing urgent. I just happened to pass by and wanted to say hello..."

"My apologies for interrupting."

Bang.

The door closed.

......

Some time had passed since that incident, so perhaps it was best to leave it be for now.

The more pressing matter at hand was spending his accumulated points.

He needed to convert these numbers into tangible combat strength.

A batch of card-making materials Su Qi had purchased through official channels a couple of days ago had just been delivered.

Carrying two large bags of card-making supplies, Su Qi glanced at his younger sister sprawled on the couch, engrossed in her phone.

Her attention was laser-focused on the tiny screen, as if she’d stumbled upon something fascinating.

Her little feet kicked idly in the air, accompanied by faint dingling sounds.

Based on Su Qi’s recent sparring experience, there was a fifty-fifty chance she wouldn’t notice if he snuck over to fiddle with her equipment cards right now.

Then he could slip away unnoticed, leaving no trace behind.

Half an hour later, he’d inevitably hear an indignant shout: "Damn you, Su Qi!"

But Su Ji felt the intensity of their recent training sessions had been a bit excessive.

As the saying went: "Teach your apprentice everything, and you’ll starve to death."

Su Qi had even lost two or three pounds lately.

Not a significant amount, but he needed to rein it in—he couldn’t afford to exhaust himself every time he taught her.

"Liu Yuan, I’m going to craft a few cards. Unless it’s urgent, don’t disturb me for the next two and a half hours."

Liu Yuan continued scrolling on her phone, responding with a noncommittal hum to acknowledge she’d heard.

Whether she’d actually registered his words, Su Qi couldn’t say.

Oh well.

No point worrying about it.

His sister wasn’t the type to barge into his room recklessly anyway.

Yet, as he passed the couch on his way back, a thought flickered through his mind.

What’s so captivating about that tiny screen?

What’s she looking at?

Maybe I should sneak a peek...

Su Qi’s eyes darted sideways for a quick glance.

The layout and colors of the app looked familiar—it was a popular online shopping site.

Ah, just browsing shops. No wonder she’s so absorbed.

But as he withdrew his gaze, a line of text caught his eye unintentionally:

"Herbal Juice Temporary Tattoo Stickers – Waterproof, No Ink Stains."

Su Qi: "......?"

Hold on, does this seem right to you?

As her guardian, Su Qi felt obligated to remind her that tattoos weren’t exactly the best choice.

Then again, these were probably washable, and Liu Yuan was already an adult with her own judgment.

Being overly controlling would just ruin the fun.

Eh, let her buy it if she wants.

With that, he carried the materials into his bedroom.

His fingertips traced a light arc through the air, activating the card-crafting process.

Su Qi’s current card inventory included:

- One cultivation manual: [Heavenstring Forge]

- One passive defense: [Earthbound Resonance]

- One single-target burst: [Tidal Moonfall]

- One AoE clear: [Mountainwood Starlight]

Plus a handful of unremarkable filler cards—commonplace items available on the market.

His combat style leaned heavily toward burst damage.

What he needed now were a few overpowered cards for sustained engagements.

Against specific scenarios—like group battles or prolonged suppression—he still lacked adequate tools.

Time to create a card with both area coverage and sustained damage.

Focusing his intent, he commanded:

"I need a skill card with seventh-tier destructive power and continuous AoE capabilities."

Almost instantly, he received a response:

[Minimum requirement: [Joy] x1.]

Compared to the staggering 230,000 points he possessed, spending 1,000 [Joy] was trivial.

But the memory of its side effects made his stomach churn...

"Switch to [Spark]."

[100 Spark]

After some careful adjustments and selecting three suitable materials, he managed to reduce the cost to [61 Spark].

Unlike the grueling process most cardmakers endured, Su Qi’s crafting was effortless.

A single tap to confirm.

Even AI-generated art couldn’t match his speed.

[Spark -125]

[Brilliance: 2]

[Joy: 0]

The Spark points began burning away.

Pale golden motes of light materialized from nothingness, swirling and condensing around Su Qi’s fingertips.

A gentle yet inexorable wave of energy rippled through the air.

The luminous particles swiftly wove intricate patterns, forming the outline of a card.

Like a rushing stream filling a parched riverbed, the energy poured into the framework.

The card’s back bore the standard design—a starry expanse of deep cosmos.

On the front, an image gradually took shape:

A zone of creeping shadows, within which countless threadlike chains of void energy slithered and intertwined.

A single card now hovered before Su Qi.

[Card Name: Shadowrealm Cage]

[Type: Skill · Illusion]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Energy Tier: ??????? (7th)]

[Attributes]

[Strength +5]

[Agility +5]

[Magic +5]

[Dark Dominion: Continuously drains spiritual energy to transform a 30-meter radius around the caster into a shadowrealm. Hostile targets within suffer gradual shadow damage and movement impairment. Attempting to exit the realm triggers a heavy burst of shadow damage.]

[Die, Insects!: If any unit dies from shadow damage within the realm, triggers a 5m x 5m explosive shadow burst, dealing spillover damage.]

No special one-star card appeared this time—as Su Qi had expected.

The "newbie benefits" period was over, after all.

Spending [61 Spark] for a solid AoE control/damage card wasn’t a bad deal.

This would effectively shore up his weakness against multiple enemies in certain situations.

Su Qi stored [Shadowrealm Cage] into his soul sea’s card slots.

As a seventh-tier Dawnbreak-tier card, he couldn’t wield it beyond his current realm yet.

But breaking through to seventh-tier was only a matter of days.

For most scenarios, this one skill card would suffice for crowd control.

Next, he addressed his equipment gaps.

Cost: [67 Spark].

[Card Name: Mindjade Pendant]

[Type: Equipment · Illusion]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Energy Tier: ??????? (7th)]

[Attributes]

[Strength +75]

[Agility +75]

[Magic +75]

[Final Reserve: Stores 30% of the wearer’s max spiritual energy. Automatically activates when the wearer’s energy is depleted. Requires a 7-day cooldown after each use before recharge.]

Another expenditure: [58 Spark] + [Joy] x1.

[Card Name: Path’s End Spear]

[Type: Equipment · Illusion]

[Rarity: Mythic]

[Energy Tier: ??????? (7th)]

[Attributes]

[Strength +450]

[Agility -20]

[Magic +1]

[Spear’s Soul: Doubles all ability values related to ‘spear’ techniques.]

【Encountering Me Means Your Road Ends Here: Throws the Road's End Spear to pierce the target, forcibly executing any hostile unit hit. (Maximum of ten tiers. If the target's strength is lower than the user's, they will enter a state of fear and be unable to evade.)】

【Spear Obsession: When provoked, there's a chance you'll lose control of your urge to strike with a spear. (It can be any spear—not necessarily this equipment.)】

As expected, adding points to the "Joys" stat made the skills turn out weird.

While it seems like three skills, only two are actually useful.

Su Qi tried imagining a scenario where someone pointed at her nose and mocked her—then pictured herself unable to resist drawing her spear in response…

This trait… is more troublesome than expected.

But clearly, the points are already spent, and a complete reset isn’t realistic.

At seventh tier, she could only equip four cards at once.

Su Qi had to keep 【Earthbound Harmonic Seal】 active to prevent being ambushed and instantly killed, then two equipment cards would take up most slots, leaving one free for skill-swapping.

Of course, this was just the first step.

The bigger headache was the summoning ritual the Descenders might attempt.

If that thing succeeded, it would pose a massive threat—not just to the martial exam grounds, but to all of Jiangxia.