One-sided competition is meaningless.

After equipping his new gear, Su Qi's combat prowess was clearly on a whole different level compared to yesterday.

However, perhaps because he had just broken through to the seventh rank, his control over his strength wasn’t as precise as before.

This resulted in some minor collateral damage.

For example… the living room was now a mess after their "sparring session."

The sofa lay overturned to the side.

Liu Yuan's voice trembled slightly, a mix of shock and lingering fear in her tone: "Brother, your strength today is… incredible…"

Her cheeks flushed faintly.

During that earlier "match," she had been practically overwhelmed.

That power—wild and unpredictable—completely defied her understanding of Su Qi’s capabilities.

Su Qi could only sigh inwardly: Investing in pleasure points when crafting cards never leads to anything good.

The negative effect probability of the "Gun Fanatic" trait was way too "sensitive," catching him off guard every time.

"Well… maybe it’s because I just broke through," he offered.

"Anyway, I didn’t hold back enough."

Liu Yuan eyed him suspiciously, her gaze sharp enough to pierce through him.

She wasn’t stupid.

That overwhelming force had left her with no room to counterattack.

If this was his usual strength now, their best-of-three sparring sessions might have to be reduced to a single decisive match.

Of course, it never crossed her mind that Su Qi might have taken some performance-enhancing consumables with severe side effects just to save face during their fight.

But now that she thought about it, she had noticed something off about him earlier.

He seemed mentally exhausted, yet beneath the surface, there was a simmering, volcanic energy ready to erupt.

Now it made sense…

That was the uncontrolled leakage of power after a sudden, massive boost!

Liu Yuan’s breathing grew slightly uneven. "Brother… you reached the seventh rank?!"

Su Qi nodded. "Yeah, got lucky. Had some insights after crafting a card and managed to break through."

Liu Yuan: "…"

Got lucky?

Managed to break through?

Was he even human?

Countless people spent their entire lives stuck at the peak of the sixth rank, exhausting all their efforts without ever touching the threshold of the seventh.

And here he was, calling it a casual side effect of card crafting?

The sheer shock of it all made Liu Yuan momentarily forget about the earlier "forced sparring."

She circled him twice, her steps slightly unsteady.

"Su Qi, didn’t you just break through to the sixth rank not long ago?"

Her face was practically glowing with admiration.

Su Qi shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Guess I had a solid foundation?"

With that, he bent down to right the overturned sofa.

Seeing this, Liu Yuan weakly collapsed onto it.

Suddenly, Su Qi remembered something.

The cultivation method granted by his cards allowed him to break through quickly, but each advancement came with a corresponding "price."

He hadn’t even checked the task required for his seventh-rank breakthrough yet.

[Dawn·Seven·Arrogance: With newfound power, you crave a worthy opponent. One-sided sparring holds no meaning.]

[Task Requirement: Within one month, train your adorable little sister into an "evenly matched" rival.]

[Failure Penalty: Gun Mastery -999%]

Su Qi sucked in a sharp breath, contributing his share to global warming.

Little sister, don’t do this to me.

Such a devastating penalty was hard to stomach.

How was he supposed to train her like that?

It had taken him over a month just to go from sixth to seventh rank.

Well… maybe he could at least try?

Su Qi steered the conversation back. "So, about that card you wanted—I’m on a hot streak right now."

"Yes! Brother, I want it!" Liu Yuan nodded eagerly, like a woodpecker on caffeine.

"What kind are you looking for?"

Su Qi mentally calculated his remaining 220,000+ pleasure points.

It wasn’t a huge amount, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

Enough to craft a couple of high-quality sixth-rank cards tailored for Liu Yuan’s martial exams, at least.

He just hoped no weird negative effects would pop up…

After all their recent sparring sessions, Su Qi had gained an intimate understanding of his sister’s combat style.

Liu Yuan leaned toward close-quarters combat, with agile footwork and exceptional body coordination—capable of pulling off some seriously acrobatic moves.

The martial exams would likely start with elimination rounds in an arena, followed by skirmishes in the Source Realm.

Defensive or survival abilities were probably her top priority right now.

After all, this silly sister of his was a classic case of "high offense, low defense."

"Hmm…" Liu Yuan tilted her head. "What kind of card do you think would suit me best?"

Clearly, she trusted Su Qi’s judgment more than her own.

Listen to advice, and you’ll never go hungry—no room for arrogance here.

"Hand me your personal card. Let me take a look."

Liu Yuan immediately recoiled, scooting away from him with a wary expression.

Su Qi facepalmed internally. What kind of nonsense has this girl been filling her head with? Who corrupted her?

"This is serious. I need to study it."

Su Qi suddenly realized the unique nature of that personal card.

The returns on his initial investment were completely disproportionate.

Wait, does she have a newbie bonus too?

He mused while fiddling with the equipment in his hands.

……

An hour later, under Liu Yuan’s resentful gaze, Su Qi finally had a plan.

He retreated to his bedroom.

There were still some leftover materials from his earlier crafting sessions.

Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind.

"I need to craft a card similar to the one I was just studying—something that defies conventional mechanics but has strong survival capabilities."

[Cost: Pleasure Points: [REDACTED]]

Su Qi: ???

Excuse me, is this card’s name "Bankruptcy"?

This price was on par with a twelve-star rare card!

Even the combined cost of his previous four cards didn’t come close to this insanity.

Su Qi backtracked. "What about a standard sixth-rank card?"

[Cost: 5,000 Pleasure Points]

This time, the cost seemed reasonable.

Factoring in material reductions, it was still over thirty times more expensive than a normal sixth-rank card.

But Su Qi hesitated.

Should I go all out for my sister?

It wasn’t about being stingy.

If he did this, he’d be completely drained of reserves.

Pleasure points might be tricky to use, but they weren’t useless.

If an emergency popped up, he’d have no contingency plans.

This fear of inadequate firepower didn’t sit well with Su Qi’s principles.

They say compromise is in the blood of the Xia people, and Su Qi was no exception. "How about… a 100,000-point version?"

[You won’t even take a 0.01% discount?]

Su Qi: …

Is this some kind of mobile game ad?

Since when do discounts go that low?

But the offer did pique his interest.

After all, most of those points had come from Liu Yuan in the first place.

Come to think of it, the last time he crafted a special card for her, he’d gone all-in too.

Is going all-in actually the smart move here?

Fine…

Worst case, he could always reclaim those points from his sister later.

"All in."

As the words faded, pale golden light particles danced like an artisan's engraving tool, intricately carving the structure of a card into the void.

Under unseen guidance, various materials decomposed, fused, and reassembled.

The air thrummed with the fluctuations of primordial essence.

With time, the outline of a card, radiating a profound glow, gradually took shape.

Points were expended—then stillness.

The card was complete.

Su Qi picked up the newly forged card and examined its properties.

[Name: Eternal Slumber Dragon · Abyss]

[Type: Special]

[Rarity: Primordial]

[Energy Level: ? (1-Star)]

[Unique Passive: ‘Abyss’ remains perpetually dormant, impossible to awaken by conventional means. It manifests only when any of the following conditions are met.]

[Condition ①: It wakes.]

[Condition ②: When the holder faces an attack capable of reducing them to zero, Abyss awakens and instantly delivers a devastating counterstrike.]

[Condition ③: Su Qi actively summons it.]