Myriad Manifestations

Australia, City within a City.

Jin Ping frowned as he operated the screen before him. "Looks like I still have to contact that person."

After exchanging resources with the Demon Army, the old man had acquired much of their technology. But from what he had seen so far, none of it was of any use to him.

With that thought, he turned to his assistant beside him. "Lower the priority of these projects."

"Yes."

Jin Ping waved a hand, then strode out of the laboratory.

Just then, a tall white man with blond hair and blue eyes hurried over to his side and said in clumsy Great Ming language, "Sir, there’s news from the Demon Army."

Hearing this, Jin Ping glanced at him and said calmly, "Looks like the situation isn’t very good."

"Go on."

The old man could already tell from the white man’s troubled expression that something had likely gone wrong with the Demon Army.

But in his view, at most one or two Army Lords had died. Surely all five Army Lords hadn’t been wiped out by the Tsardom of Russia and Great Ming in a single battle?

Besides, with his help, the Demon Army had the latest results of the Demonization experiments.

"All five Army Lords died on the spot."

"?" Jin Ping immediately stopped walking and looked at the white man beside him in astonishment. "Is the intelligence confirmed?!"

The white man nodded with some difficulty. "Diamond Grade Demons have already come to us seeking protection."

Diamond Grade Demons could already be considered upper management within the Demon Army. They would not turn to a human force like the City within a City for no reason.

Even if the City within a City was made up of Human Traitors.

Seeing that the intelligence was genuine, Jin Ping’s face immediately darkened.

After a long silence, he finally said, "In that case, notify Marcus and the others to hold a meeting. Tell them about this as well."

"Yes, I’ll go right away."

The white man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, lowered his head in acknowledgment, and quickly left the old man’s side.

Watching Chris’s legacy depart, Jin Ping stood where he was, his expression shifting unpredictably.

He had never imagined that the joint operation between Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia would truly annihilate the Demon Army. In the old man’s expectations, the two sides should have been locked in a prolonged standoff. Otherwise, he would not have ordered the Fallen Cult to stir up trouble behind the Tsardom of Russia’s lines.

The current situation was completely against the interests of the City within a City.

After all, without the threat of the Demon Army, they would have no way to fish in troubled waters.

The corridor fell into dead silence. Only after a long while did footsteps ring out again.

The City within a City was not inefficient. Before long, Jin Ping, Marcus, and the Skin Peeler met in the conference room.

Since the matter was of great importance, only these three Master Card Masters were present.

Jin Ping swept his gaze over the other two and said in a deep voice, "You two should already know about the Demon Army, right?"

The Skin Peeler nodded, while Marcus chewed idly.

Ignoring the black person beside her whose thoughts had drifted elsewhere, the Skin Peeler frowned tightly and asked, "Is the intelligence confirmed?"

To be honest, the news that the Demon Army had been destroyed was rather absurd.

Those were five entire Master Grade beings!

Faced with her question, Jin Ping could not help tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Not to mention that surviving Diamond Grade Demons have already come to us."

"News of this magnitude is unlikely to be false."

More importantly, even if it were false, what would the Demon Army gain from it?

Besides, the reactions of Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia afterward could not be faked.

The Skin Peeler clearly realized this as well.

After remaining silent for a moment, she asked, "Do we have any records of what happened at the time?"

"Although His Majesty of the Tsardom of Russia advanced to Hall of Fame Grade, that alone should not have led to the current situation."

"Or did Great Ming or the Tsardom of Russia have some trump card we didn’t know about?"

However, upon hearing this, Jin Ping’s expression immediately became extremely complicated. The Skin Peeler could clearly make out anger, disbelief, and regret.

The old man opened his mouth, then said in a somewhat dry voice, "According to what remains of the Demon Army, a Diamond Grade Card Master killed Tempest on the spot."

"That caused the entire situation to collapse."

Of course, the Skin Peeler knew of Tempest, that powerful Master Grade Demon. If they truly fought, none of the three Master Card Masters present could claim with certainty that they could defeat him.

Yet in the next moment, she caught the key detail in Jin Ping’s words.

"A Diamond Grade Card Master?!"

Uncontrollable astonishment appeared on the feather-crowned woman’s face.

But immediately afterward, she thought of a terrifying possibility.

"Was it…"

"Lu Su?"

Among all the Diamond Grade beings she had encountered, the Skin Peeler could only think of that youth who had made Jin Ping suffer.

Hearing Lu Su’s name, Jin Ping’s face darkened, but he still nodded to confirm the Skin Peeler’s guess. "Now it seems Chris’s death may also have been his doing."

"…"

Hearing this, the Skin Peeler fell silent.

Ignoring the woman, Jin Ping muttered resentfully, "I should have killed him back then!"

Without Lu Su, the situation would never have deteriorated so badly. Even if the Demon Army had been no match for Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia, they would not have fallen so far.

Fortunately, the Skin Peeler quickly accepted reality. What had happened could not be changed. It would be better to consider how they should respond from now on.

"It seems we’ll need to lie low for a while."

"After all…"

The woman trailed off and glanced at the extensive charred wounds covering the three of them.

These were the injuries Ye Zhou had left behind during their last attack on Great Ming. As a Hall of Fame Card Master, the damage he inflicted naturally could not be easily removed. Even now, Jin Ping and the others endured endless burning pain day and night.

Hearing this, Jin Ping restrained some of the anger on his face and organized his thoughts. "The situation should not be too terrible yet."

"After all, Great Ming still has to deal with the remaining Demon Army."

Although the Demon Army was on the verge of collapse after the deaths of the five Army Lords, one should not forget that over the years, a huge number of Secret Realms had descended upon that frozen land.

Even without Master Grade beings holding the fort, Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia would need to spend considerable effort clearing every Secret Realm.

This meant that Great Ming would not shift its focus toward the City within a City anytime soon. But once Great Ming freed up its hands, things would be hard to say.

The Skin Peeler also understood the key point. She let out a soft breath, then pinched the bridge of her nose with her charred right hand. "Then it seems we still have time."

"By the way, did the Demon Army say what method Lu Su used?"

Faced with the Skin Peeler’s question, Jin Ping’s expression suddenly became quite spectacular. "They said Lu Su has a method that can directly reset cards that are on cooldown."

"??"

For a moment, the Skin Peeler could not understand Jin Ping’s words.

What did it mean to be able to reset a card’s cooldown?

She had lived for so long, yet she had never heard of any card possessing such a heaven-defying ability.

It completely defied the logic of card creation.

Jin Ping did have a guess. He curled his lip disdainfully. "It should be the World Consciousness’s doing."

"Just a lackey."

As a Master Card Master, the old man naturally had some understanding of the truth of this world.

Part of it came from his own investigations, while another part had been told to him by Demons.

Thus, when faced with Lu Su, whose leveling speed and card strength were completely unreasonable, he attributed all the credit to the World Consciousness.

The Skin Peeler did not agree with Jin Ping. She could already hear the sourness practically overflowing from the old man’s words.

After all, as Human Traitors, they would be fortunate enough if the World Consciousness did not sabotage them. How could they expect it to take care of them?

Compared with ordinary Master Card Masters, it had become extremely difficult for the three people present to create new cards. Sometimes, they could not even enter the Mysterious Space.

This was also why Jin Ping was so eager to establish his own path. He had already lost the possibility of advancing to Hall of Fame Grade through normal means.

Rather than respond to Jin Ping, the Skin Peeler merely shook her head. "It seems Tempest was caught off guard by that card."

She naturally understood just how powerful it would be if one card could reset the cooldowns of other cards.

Under those circumstances, it was not impossible for Tempest to suffer a humiliating defeat.

But now that they were on guard, it would be difficult for Lu Su to catch them with that trick again.

"…In any case, we should be more careful from now on." Jin Ping calmed his emotions, then turned around. "No matter what, heal our injuries first."

Looking at the large patches of new flesh on the old man’s back, the Skin Peeler silently nodded.

As for Marcus?

He had already eaten his fill and fallen asleep.

Great Ming.

Several days had now passed since the battle with the Demon Army.

After the five Army Lords died, the Demon Army instantly collapsed, and the Shuběi Army swept forward with unstoppable momentum.

But because of the Secret Realms, these festering tumors could not be cleared away in such a short time.

However, this had little to do with Lu Su.

Because something of great importance to his future reputation was currently taking place: several Master Grade beings were discussing his title.

Lu Su did not want to end up with some crude nickname like Xiao Meng’s "Reckless Vajra."

"Under normal circumstances, only Master Card Masters are given titles." At this moment, Fang Wenlong looked at Lu Su with a smile, then continued, "But Master Ji and I have both witnessed Xiao Luo’s strength firsthand, so there’s no problem considering this matter in advance."

With that, he looked toward Bai Yueming in the distance. "Master Bai, as Xiao Luo’s teacher, do you have any thoughts?"

Of course, Bai Yueming already knew that his disciple had successfully killed a Master Grade Demon at the peak of its strength, and his face was filled with delight.

But regarding Fang Wenlong’s question, he merely shook his head. "That depends on what Xiao Luo himself thinks."

"True."

Fang Wenlong nodded in agreement, then turned his gaze toward Lu Su.

Noticing his gaze, Lu Su immediately sat up straight. "I can choose it myself?!"

"This…"

For a moment, the youth did not know what to say. By rights, weren’t titles supposed to be given by other people?

He had only come today to prevent some bizarre title from appearing.

Something like "Invincible Tyrannosaurus War God."

As for coming up with a title for himself, that was honestly rather embarrassing.

Seemingly noticing his feelings, Ji Weirui, wrapped from head to toe in white bandages like a mummy, said with a smile, "If you have no ideas, Xiao Luo, then we can decide it for you."

"After all, your information hasn’t spread yet."

After the great battle against the Demon Army, both Ji Weirui and Fang Wenlong had suffered serious injuries.

And wounds inflicted by Master Grade beings were difficult to heal even with healing cards.

At this moment, Ye Zhou, who had remained silent until now, coughed. A hint of a smile appeared on his pale face. "Master Bai, it seems the name I came up with during the National Tournament will come in handy."

As Great Ming’s only Hall of Fame Card Master, he was naturally delighted by the emergence of a genius like Lu Su.

Moreover, when Lu Su and the others had fought the Army Lords earlier, he had been keeping an eye on the Card Masters.

After all, if anything went wrong, Ye Zhou would step in to support them. Fortunately, it never came to that.

Bai Yueming was initially stunned, but then recalled something. "…Little Ye, you mean?"

"That’s right. Let’s call him Myriad Manifestations. It suits him perfectly, doesn’t it?"

Upon hearing Ye Zhou’s words, everyone present was stunned for a moment, but they soon showed looks of understanding.

"Indeed."

"I agree."

Based on what they knew of Lu Su, this title truly suited the youth’s performance all along.

Unlike other Card Masters, who specialized in only one system, Lu Su had used cards from many different systems so far.

More importantly, none of those systems were weak.

Besides, Myriad Manifestations could also refer to Lu Su’s terrifying number of cards.

Lu Su had no objections either. After all, Myriad Manifestations was not an unpleasant title. "Thank you, Ye Diantang. Then Myriad Manifestations it shall be."

Seeing that Lu Su did not object, Ye Zhou chuckled. "As long as you don’t think the name I chose is awful, Xiao Luo."

As he spoke, his expression gradually turned solemn. "In that case, announce it to the entire nation."

"Let everyone know that Great Ming has gained another Master Grade Card Master."

After coming to this world for so long, Lu Su had never heard of any Diamond Grade Card Master from Great Ming advancing to Master Grade.

So he had no idea there was such a process.

More importantly…

Strictly speaking, he was still only Diamond Grade!

At this moment, Bai Yueming explained quietly to Lu Su, "Xiao Luo, ordinarily there would be no need to do this. But you know Great Ming’s situation has not been very good lately. Little Ye’s intention is also to boost morale at home."

"But if you aren’t willing, then…"

Lu Su immediately understood and shook his head slightly. "Let’s do it. I understand."

Hearing this, Ye Zhou immediately felt relieved.

The next day, every person in Great Ming received a piece of news.

From this day onward, Great Ming had gained another Master Grade Card Master.