Failed

Soon, Su Qi got his answer.

His Source Message chimed.

[Iris: Big bro, big bro, how much would a 4-star rare card that provides both high base stats and a Source Essence Refinement Efficiency modifier cost on the market?]

[IWantToSleep: If I were the seller, I'd probably ask for 550k. Attribute cards are cheap—it's the cultivation modifiers that are ridiculously overpriced.]

[Iris: That expensive?!]

[IWantToSleep: Well, duh? Don't tell me you tried buying one for 50k?]

[Iris: Hmph! ヽ（≧□≦）ノ I-I'm not that dumb!]

Look at this.

This is what a girl her age should be like—playful and lively.

Adorably dumb and cute.

Unlike his so-called "sister," who always wore that icy expression.

She never even called him "brother," just "Su Qi" this and "Su Qi" that—no respect at all.

The mental image of a clueless loli getting rejected after offering 50k for such an overpriced card made Su Qi smirk involuntarily.

[Delight +6]

Huh?

Seeing another notification, Su Qi guessed the earlier +500 probably also came from his "online girlfriend."

But his smile soon faded.

Though she never talked about her family, it wasn’t hard to guess from their chats that she was likely an orphan too.

She must be feeling pretty down right now.

Yet here she was, forcing cheerfulness with him.

[IWantToSleep: Little Iris, do you believe in miracles?]

[Iris: I believe in you, big bro.]

Seriously, who wouldn’t melt at a reply like that?

Luckily, Su Qi wasn’t the type to get hooked easily. He kept typing.

[IWantToSleep: I can try making one for you, but no guarantees it’ll be exactly what you want.]

Then, for a full three minutes, he watched the "typing…" indicator flicker on and off.

Nothing came through.

She was clearly wrestling with herself—typing, deleting, retyping.

Finally, a 50k transfer popped up.

[Iris: I believe in you, big bro.]

Not a glitch—she’d sent it twice.

Good thing she ran into Su Qi. A mark this gullible would’ve been scammed out of her last penny by anyone else.

[IWantToSleep: Off to craft. Leave me your address—I’ll mail it tomorrow.]

Even if "Little Iris" wasn’t his future wife, that level of trust alone deserved his best effort.

Time to shop for materials! While Su Qi could technically conjure things from nothing, creating ex nihilo consumed too much energy. For someone close, cutting corners wasn’t an option.

As Su Qi pushed open his bedroom door, Liu Yuan happened to walk in from the foyer.

Simultaneously, both their smiles vanished.

Their eyes met briefly in the living room before they wordlessly brushed past each other.

This was normal for step-siblings. What, did people expect them to brawl in the hallway or something?

[Delight +100]

...

Modern superhumans fell into three main categories: Cultivators, Martial Artists, and Card Wielders.

Card Wielders dominated numerically.

Why?

Simple.

They were stat monsters with broken mechanics.

For Cultivators to grow stronger?

First, harvest Source Essence. Then master cultivation techniques. Next, cycle the essence into spiritual energy—assuming you even had the aptitude and enlightenment for it.

And that’s just the basics. Later came esoteric mantras, forging spiritual treasures, comprehending sword intent or cosmic truths...

Martial Artists followed a similar grind, just swapping cultivation for body tempering.

Meanwhile, Card Wielders?

Harvest Source Essence, convert it to mental energy, then activate a card.

Say, play [Cultivation Prodigy].

Boom—some poor Cultivator who trained for twenty years gets one-shot.

Because that card’s stats might equal fifty years of genius-level cultivation.

The only catch?

The stronger the card, the pricier it gets. Top-tier cards even develop sentience and choose their users.

Hence the joking classifications:

Gacha Kings (Cultivators), Grindlords (Martial Artists), Whales (Card Wielders).

...

If Card Wielders outsourced their "talent and hard work," who bore the sweat?

The Card Crafters, obviously.

Card crafting involved three steps.

Materials purchased, Su Qi tapped the desk absently while reviewing the process.

"Step one: Design the card’s circuitry. Visualize the card’s form, then translate it into ‘circuit patterns’—a specialized symbolic language."

"No half-assing. The more detailed each line, the closer the final product matches your vision."

"Card tiers go: Common, Fine, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Primordial. From Epic onward, each card is unique. Even the same crafter can’t replicate an Epic card identically."

"Step two: Use circuitry to define the card’s lore. Where was it born? What trials shaped it? What powers did it gain? What legacy did it leave? All must be meticulously scripted."

"After lore comes the final step—sourcing compatible materials."

"The materials MUST synergize with the card’s attributes. Mismatches risk failure, wasted resources, or even explosions."

"But ‘circuit patterns’ aren’t text or images. They’re more like... code. And each card has limited pattern capacity."

Not that Su Qi cared.

He had a little "talent and hard work" of his own.

[Radiance: 12]

[Brilliance: 0]

[Delight: 1027]

All-in. That’s the play.

"You’re a grown-up engraving knife now. Time to craft your own damn card."

"I need a 4-star Rare card with high base stats, Source Essence Refinement Efficiency, and user-binding."

As for why Su Qi called Delight "inferior currency"?

Because it smuggled in unwanted extras.

Ask it to make a god-tier weapon? Sure—but it’ll tack on [Must Wear Dress to Wield].

Hence the name: [Delight Modifiers].

Hopefully, this time’s modifier wouldn’t be too ridiculous.

He did invest 12 Radiance points.

The astral engraving knife danced wildly, its blade moving with supernatural precision. In seconds, it completed the circuitry, fused the materials, and sealed the card.

A four-star rare card that would typically take an ordinary cardmaker three to five days to complete was finished just like that—simple and effortless.

Su Qi quickly stepped forward and picked up the card from the table to examine its attributes.

But then, a strong sense of rejection washed over him.

[Special Card: Attributes can only be viewed after binding. Would you like to bind?]

Su Qi: "…"

Damn it!

Of course, something had to go wrong again.

If he didn’t bind it, he couldn’t check the stats. But if he did bind it, he couldn’t give it away.

Modern-day schemes were truly ruthless like this.

So…

Should he really give this card—with completely unknown attributes and guaranteed to come with a [Pleasure Trait]—to ‘Little Iris’?

But if he didn’t give it…

All those points he’d spent would go to waste.

It wasn’t like he was some hopeless simp who lost all sense of reason at the sight of a woman.

Sure, Little Iris was adorable, but the main reason he was willing to go all-in was to ‘alter the course of her life.’

Whatever. It was already done.

At worst, he’d just put more effort into the next card he made for Little Iris.

If he couldn’t earn [Brilliance], then recouping some [Pleasure] wasn’t bad either.

Like they say—going all-in is a form of wisdom.

Welp.

He was screwed.