Wanting is wanting, she really wants it.

The next day.

Jiangxia Sixth Cardmaster Academy.

Liu Yuan's classroom.

"Class, you have three months left before you embark on the path that will determine your future," a teacher in his early thirties stood at the podium, scanning the room filled with martial examinees.

"As I’ve told you many times, special talents are merely the icing on the cake. What you achieve in the future depends primarily on your hard work."

"Talent is the starting point, but effort is the finish line..."

"Of course, different aptitudes mean different ceilings for effort. But no matter what, those who work hard will always go further than those who give up on themselves."

"Hard work isn’t just about catching up to others—it’s about surpassing yourself. Every breakthrough, no matter how small, paves the way for the future you."

The room was silent, save for the occasional chirping of birds outside the window.

Some students lowered their heads in contemplation, while others gazed intently at the teacher, as if weighing the significance of his words.

Only Liu Yuan, seated by the window in the last row, was occupied with "minor mischief," her fingers tapping rapidly on her phone screen.

It wasn’t that she disliked listening to lectures—it was just that this kind of "toxic motivational talk" was repeated twice a month, and hearing it over and over again grew tiresome.

Strangely enough, the teachers never seemed to tire of it.

Hadn’t they been young once? Didn’t they remember whether they’d enjoyed hearing such things at that age?

[Iris: Brother, brother, which do you think is more important—talent or hard work?]

Liu Yuan had never asked about his exact identity, but judging from his occasional profound remarks—phrases that left her awestruck yet baffled—it wasn’t hard to guess he was highly educated.

His username, "I Want to Sleep," also hinted at a life of exhausting effort.

...

"Achoo!"

Su Qi, who had just woken up, sneezed.

He checked the time.

10:23.

Well, what could he say? As a struggling web novelist, his sleep schedule was anything but regular.

His mind was always cluttered with random plot ideas and pretentious one-liners—annoying, really.

Then he saw the message from Iris.

Sent at 10:19.

Not too late—only four minutes had passed. It was fine to reply now.

Luckily, his little Iris didn’t have the bad habit of getting upset over delayed responses.

Still, Su Qi didn’t answer the question directly.

[I Want to Sleep: Student, if I recall correctly, shouldn’t you be in class right now?]

[Iris: (〃'▽'〃) Maybe?]

[I Want to Sleep: Little Iris, you wouldn’t want your teacher to find out you’re playing with your phone in class, would you?]

[Iris: Then… then what do you want?]

[I Want to Sleep: Show me your legs.]

...

Liu Yuan’s face flushed slightly in the middle of class.

[Iris: Maybe when I get home… I’ll think about it?]

[Iris: Wait! No! Brother, don’t change the subject o(≧д≦)o!! Answer my question first!]

[I Want to Sleep: Thanks for asking. Having just awakened a special talent, I must say human potential cannot be generalized.]

[I Want to Sleep: I once reached heights most people could never achieve in their lifetime—completely by accident.]

[I Want to Sleep: Perhaps my casual efforts are masterpieces others could never glimpse, no matter how hard they strive.]

[Iris: Brother’s bragging again…]

[I Want to Sleep: Fine then…]

[I Want to Sleep: Personally, I think talent trumps effort. The world has never been fair.]

[Iris: But in Great Xia, nearly 70% of those at the pinnacle don’t have special talents…]

[I Want to Sleep: If 1% of the population holds 99% of the wealth, does that mean everyone is prosperous?]

[I Want to Sleep: You have to understand—90% of people lack special talents, while 10% possess them. Yet in the end, the ratio of top-tier experts is 70% to 30%.]

[I Want to Sleep: Fixating on the 70-30 split while ignoring the population difference is just ignoring reality.]

[I Want to Sleep: Sorry, little Iris, but the talented are simply superior.]

[I Want to Sleep: But don’t worry—I’ll make cards to support you.]

[I Want to Sleep: Speaking of which, I just remembered—I mailed a card to your school. Remember to pick it up at noon.]

"Excellent!"

The teacher’s sudden exclamation startled Liu Yuan, making her jump.

She glanced guiltily at the podium, relieved to find he hadn’t noticed her.

"Due to this year’s education reforms, we’ll be introducing a special curriculum for the next three months."

"This may very well be the last lesson I teach you."

"Class dismissed! May you all have a bright future!"

Only then did Liu Yuan notice the time on her phone—10:45.

Twenty-some minutes had slipped by unnoticed.

She slipped out through the back door.

Though her brother had said to pick it up at noon, she couldn’t wait even an hour.

In a way, this was the first gift he’d ever given her, right?

Truthfully, when she transferred that 50,000 yesterday, it wasn’t purely out of lovesick impulsiveness.

A part of her had been afraid—hence the two or three minutes of hesitation.

But then she reconsidered. For one, the chances of recovering scammed funds on Yuanxin were high. And given their three-year friendship, surely it was worth more than 50,000?

Besides, the card she wanted was worth over 500,000. Though her brother had only said he’d "try," he wouldn’t have brought it up if he wasn’t confident.

Should she have said, "Send the card first, then I’ll pay"?

That would’ve felt too distant.

Lost in thought, Liu Yuan soon arrived at the academy’s mailroom.

After providing her phone number, the staff handed her a deceptively light package that somehow felt heavy in her hands.

[To: Iris, Jiangxia Sixth Academy]

Her trust wasn’t blind—at least she hadn’t given her real name or address.

Holding the box, her heartbeat quickened.

She found a quiet corner and carefully unwrapped it.

Inside lay an exquisite card, its surface shimmering with a faint blue glow.

[Special Card—Bind to view attributes. Confirm binding?]

The prompt appeared the moment her fingertip touched the card.

This…

This was far too extravagant.

As mentioned before, Cardmasters were a "pay-to-win" profession—but not absolutely.

With the right approach, using generic cards allowed one to buy for 50,000 and later resell for the same price when they became obsolete—making it potentially the most cost-effective path. The downside? Mass-produced cards meant lackluster combat performance…

Exclusive cards were the opposite.

The difference was like riding a bus versus driving your own car.

That being said, a private car is undoubtedly more comfortable and convenient to use—just also more expensive.

At this point, sending a message about how the gift was too extravagant and she couldn’t accept it would be downright hypocritical.

She wanted it. She really wanted it.

At worst, she could just return the favor with a card of equal value later.

If she really couldn’t afford it…

Turning herself into the gift…

Wasn’t entirely off the table either.

Liu Yuan took a deep breath, her fingertips lightly brushing the card as she channeled her soul energy into it, allowing the card to imprint her essence.

In her mind, she whispered, "Activate."

A soft glow shimmered across the card’s surface before transforming into a streak of light that merged into her body.

A wave of warmth spread from her fingertips through her entire being, enveloping her in a faint luminescence.

[Binding successful.]

[Card Name: ???]

[Type: Exclusive Equipment · Illusion]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Energy Level: ???? (Tier 4)]

[Attributes]

[Strength +7]

[Agility +7]

[Magic +7]

[Special Passive ①: Talent and Effort—While equipped, the user cannot actively cultivate. Instead, once per hour, the card automatically accumulates the cultivation gains equivalent to what the user would achieve through normal Tier 4 cultivation, then refreshes its status.]

[Special Passive ②: Infinite Potential—This card appears to have room for further evolution.]

Liu Yuan’s eyes sparkled. This card far exceeded her expectations.

Generally, an average adult male’s strength stat hovered around 5.

A four-star rare card typically provided around 10 attribute points, but this one only gave 7—clearly subpar on the surface.

But the problem was…

[Special Passive ①: Talent and Effort—While equipped, the user cannot actively cultivate. Instead, once per hour, the card automatically accumulates the cultivation gains equivalent to what the user would achieve through normal Tier 4 cultivation, then refreshes its status.]

If she wasn’t mistaken, this meant that as long as she wore this equipment card, every hour, a "Tier 4 version" of herself would be cultivating on her behalf?

For someone like her, who lacked high-tier methods to capture Source Essence and could only rely on the basic manual Source Essence Primer—not to mention being unable to afford enhancement potions—her actual daily cultivation time barely amounted to two or three hours.

In other words… while this card didn’t directly boost her Source Essence absorption efficiency, it compensated through sheer diligence?

If it ran continuously for 24 hours compared to her usual cultivation time, the difference would be…

How much?

Tenfold?

And this was called a four-star card?

Only now did she realize her brother might have been right.

Maybe he wasn’t exaggerating after all.

[I Want to Sleep: Perhaps what I create on a whim is a masterpiece others could never glimpse even after a lifetime of struggle.]

Even with her limited expertise, she could roughly guess that this card’s value couldn’t be measured in mere hundreds of thousands.

[Iris: Brother, I got the card! I love it so much! (hugging emoji)]

……

Seeing Little Iris’ reply, Su Qi broke into a cold sweat.

The things [Jubilation] produced… he’d seen them before, and hardly any were usable by normal humans.

Was it really that good, little sister?

They say a woman’s heart is as deep as the ocean.

Was she being sarcastic?

Su Qi cautiously typed out a message.

[I Want to Sleep: So… what’s the downside?]