New Order and Diamond Grade

No one in Great Ming would ever forget that night, bright as day—especially those living in the inland regions.

They watched wave after wave of Association Card Master forces march toward the residences of those Imperial Court officials, while the Imperial Court Card Masters fell into a strange silence, as though nothing had happened.

Of course, overthrowing an ancient system was never going to be smooth sailing. People like Lu Su were a minority, after all.

As their estates were surrounded, most officials with guilty consciences naturally would not sit around and wait to die.

Yet before they could make a move, blazing white beams descended from the sky. Everyone who resisted violently met the same fate: becoming charred corpses.

A small number of people immediately realized that Great Ming’s skies had changed. The Imperial Court had likely become a thing of the past.

But there was a saying: if you failed, it was called a coup; if you succeeded, that was **.

Before long, they had already prepared themselves to embrace the new order.

At that moment, the morning was as ordinary as ever, yet the usual clamor of workers heading out to work was strangely absent.

Virtually everyone in Great Ming, civilians and Card Masters alike, remained at home watching the livestreams on their televisions and phones.

Of course, some might have been watching from their posts.

After all, certain Shuběi Army watchtowers and Secret Realm observation posts could not be left unattended for even a moment.

Though those Demons might already have been scared out of their wits.

"Good morning, everyone of Great Ming."

"I’m Ye Zhou."

The pale, thin man smiled at the camera. Beside him sat two men and one woman.

At the sight of them, everyone recognized who they were.

Ye Zhou, Bai Yueming, Fang Wenlong, and Ji Weirui.

The four figures standing at the pinnacle of Great Ming’s Card Masters were seated within a vast hall.

Sharp-eyed viewers had already spotted the dragon throne behind and above them.

Unfortunately, because the Forbidden City had never been opened to the public, even though they had their suspicions, they could not be certain whether the Association’s four high-ranking members were truly where they thought they were.

But Ye Zhou quickly answered their doubts.

The seemingly frail man coughed first, then smiled again. "Some of you have probably already guessed where we are."

"That’s right. We are currently in Fengtian Hall."

As he spoke, the camera gradually pulled back, soon capturing the entire hall.

Even so, most people still had no idea what Fengtian Hall was.

After all, the place before them was merely a later reconstruction based on the original. Moreover, as the Great Ming emperor’s authority had steadily weakened, the last time this place had been used was when Zhu Zhongjing ascended the throne—and that coronation had not been broadcast to the public.

Yet a small number of viewers watching the livestream had a bold thought rise in their minds.

"Could it be that Ye Diantang is planning to make himself emperor?"

It was no wonder they thought so. Though Zhu Zhongjing had little presence, the people of Great Ming still knew that their nation had an emperor.

And after what had happened last night, that emperor was nowhere to be seen upon the dragon throne.

As though he had guessed what some people before their screens were thinking, Ye Zhou laughed. "Don’t misunderstand. I have no intention of becoming emperor."

"And Great Ming no longer needs an emperor."

His words instantly plunged the people of Great Ming watching the livestream into silence.

For a moment, they could not comprehend what it meant to no longer need an emperor.

For thousands of years, the people of this land had grown accustomed to the existence of emperors, even if their influence had steadily dwindled with the emergence of Card Masters.

But Ye Zhou gave them no time to process the news and continued, "Not only will there be no emperor, there will no longer be an Imperial Court either."

"From now on, the Association will take full responsibility for all affairs."

The man’s words were like a bomb dropped into still water, instantly detonating across all of Great Ming.

For those living along the coast or near the borders, it might not have mattered much. The Imperial Court had barely had any presence where they lived to begin with, so it made little difference to them.

But for those in the inland regions, this was a world-changing event.

Yet this was one advantage of a world with supernatural powers. If Lu Su had tried to do something like this in the world before his transmigration, the resistance from every side would have been absurdly immense. One misstep, and he might even have become an enemy of the entire world.

Now, however, it was simple.

Great Ming’s four strongest people were right there on the screen. Anyone with objections could go find them directly.

But no one would likely be foolish enough to do so. After all, most of those who had objections had already gone underground to protest.

"That’s all I have to say."

As Ye Zhou’s final words fell, the livestream signal abruptly cut off.

Watching the screen suddenly go dark, Lu Su could not help but let out a soft breath.

Of course, he knew what his Teacher planned to do today, so he was not particularly surprised.

He did feel some pleasure, though. The mastermind who had been constantly sickening him had fallen, and that was indeed something worth celebrating.

But although Ye Zhou and the other three’s livestream looked rather crude today, things were far more complicated than that. After making the nationwide announcement, they still needed to redraw Great Ming’s system.

Bai Yueming had wanted Lu Su to go help out as well, but he had refused.

The Youth had no interest in rules and regulations.

He was fine with fighting and killing, but handling this sort of administration? He would be better off making a Zhuge Liang card.

Come to think of it, Card Masters really were unfair. After all, for things they had no talent for, they could simply solve the problem with cards.

Just like before, Lu Su had basically dumped all matters concerning the Association in Donglai onto Sister Lie and Xue.

Thinking of this, he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder how Teacher plans to arrange things for me."

"Probably Shanghai City?"

The reason the Youth thought so was because he still bore the task of investigating Jin Ping’s schemes, and Shanghai City, as the other party’s target, was clearly the most suitable place.

"Does this count as returning home in glory?"

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Lu Su turned his attention back to his own rank.

After grinding that old bastard, the Sheng Family Patriarch, to ashes last night, he had already advanced to Diamond Grade.

"Who would believe this advancement speed if I told them?"

He casually mocked himself.

To be honest, Lu Su now felt that being a transmigrator alone was no longer enough to explain everything happening to him.

But when he thought of Little Spider’s bizarre immortality Trait, he vaguely seemed to have some ideas. In any case, it definitely had something to do with the World Consciousness.

As for the exact reason—

He would probably have to wait until he reached Master Grade to find out. At the very least, he needed to establish contact with the World Consciousness first.

Though Fang Wenlong and the others did not seem capable of communicating with It either.

For the time being, Lu Su buried his doubts and began considering his next card-making plans.

Unlike Jade Grade, not many of the cards he currently possessed could advance to Diamond Grade. If he wanted to build up his combat strength, he could only make new cards.

But the highest priority was definitely assembling the Soul King as soon as possible.

"Three Diamond Grade Field Materials…"

But the thought of three Field Cards gave Lu Su a headache.

"And I need to make at least one Ichigo for the World of the Living, otherwise Karakura Town can’t be generated at all."

"What a huge task."

The Youth silently sighed, then took out his communicator.

Lu Su: Senior Disciple Brother, does that Diamond Grade material you mentioned before still count?

Zhang Jingxing: Of course it still counts.

When Zhang Jingxing received Lu Su’s message, he was initially somewhat puzzled. But then, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

His fingers flew across the screen.

Zhang Jingxing: Wait! You’re Diamond Grade already?!

Lu Su: Mm.

Seeing Lu Su’s simple reply, Zhang Jingxing opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

After a long while, he finally sent a message with complicated feelings.

Zhang Jingxing: Then come find me in Jizhou Town.

Seeing this, Lu Su put away his phone.

"Now I just need to wait for Teacher to come back."

He was in no hurry to find his Senior Disciple Brother. After all, a single Diamond Grade material alone would not be much use.

He was preparing to go find Jin Ping.

But before that, Lu Su still had to inform Bai Yueming.

Not long after, the white-haired old man appeared in the room.

Lu Su greeted him. "You’ve worked hard, Teacher."

Bai Yueming nodded, then immediately noticed that his youngest disciple had already entered Diamond Grade.

He fell silent for a moment before saying in a dry voice, "…Xiao Luo, you’re going, aren’t you?"

Lu Su could not help but freeze at that, but he quickly understood what his teacher meant.

He nodded.

Seeing this, Bai Yueming let out a long sigh. "Be careful."

This had nothing to do with Great Ming. The old man was simply worried for his disciple’s safety as a teacher.

But Lu Su was not actually nervous. His identity within the Spirit Summoning Society was basically incapable of being exposed.

Unless Jin Ping had nothing better to do and wanted to play some master’s game.

"Mm."

Lu Su silently nodded, then vanished from the room, leaving Bai Yueming standing there alone, slightly hunched over.

Australia.

Jin Ping frowned deeply as he wiped the blood from his hands.

"Strange."

"What exactly am I still missing?"

After obtaining detailed intelligence on the Demonization Experiment, he had conducted experiments on many of the Spirit Summoning Society’s Card Masters over this period of time.

Most of them had failed.

Only a small number had fused with demons.

But even those people were far from successful, still extremely far from the experimental subjects in the Demon Army.

"Tch."

"Could the intelligence Xiao Liu gave me be wrong?"

For a moment, Jin Ping suspected that Lu Su had tampered with the information.

But when he recalled that the Youth had even betrayed Bai Yueming, he dismissed the thought.

"It can’t be that I did something wrong, can it?"

The old man began to consider whether the problem lay with himself.

Just then, a ripple suddenly echoed through his mind, interrupting his thoughts.

Jin Ping muttered in surprise, "Xiao Liu reached Diamond Grade?"

As he spoke, he had already returned to the old place where he had previously met Lu Su.

Before long, a tall, slender figure pushed open the door and entered the room.

The newcomer was naturally Lu Su.

Upon seeing Jin Ping, he respectfully lowered his head and greeted, "President."

Jin Ping’s gaze swept over him from head to toe. "I never expected you to advance so quickly."

The old man now felt that the move he had made on a whim had truly been a stroke of genius.

He had never imagined that the tiny Bronze Grade Card Master from back then would reach Diamond Grade in such a short time.

"It was all thanks to the Society’s support."

Lu Su smoothly slipped in a bit of flattery.

However, Jin Ping was not buying it, merely laughing strangely. "Cut it out."

"I remember perfectly well how much support the Society gave you."

So far, the materials the Spirit Summoning Society had provided Lu Su were not exactly few, but neither were they many. At most, they were enough to piece together three or four cards.

But Jin Ping had never relied on the carrot-and-stick approach.

More than anything else, the old man trusted his contract.

Sensing the connection between himself and the young man before him, the corners of his mouth curled upward. "You’ve done well lately. I said before that I had a grand gift for you."

As he spoke, a material appeared between his index and middle fingers.

The old man waved it before Lu Su.

"I won’t go back on my word."

With that, Jin Ping flicked the material toward the young man.

Lu Su caught it in one hand, and after examining its information, his pupils abruptly contracted.

It was a Field Material.

Diamond Grade Decisive Battlefield (Red).

Lu Su never expected that one of the three Field Cards he had been worrying about not long ago would now have a lead.

He did not hide his delight, saying in a cheerful tone, "Thank you, President."

A performance had to be carried through to the end. Lu Su could not possibly be so lacking in composure; what he was playing now was a Spirit Summoning Society Card Master who had already let down his guard.

Jin Ping raised a brow at the sight. "Looks like you already have an idea."

Before Lu Su could explain, the old man shifted to another topic, clearly with no intention of probing further. "Time really flies. It’s been quite a while since you joined the Spirit Summoning Society."

"You must have always been curious why I told you to hide your identity, right?"

Lu Su silently nodded, though inwardly he raised his guard to the utmost.

It was obvious that the old bastard was about to reveal the very thing he wanted to investigate.

Jin Ping smiled and continued, "Do you remember the demon’s diary you handed in before?"

"The answer is inside."

Hearing this, Youth began searching through his memories.

Very soon, he recalled what Jin Ping was referring to.

So far, Lu Su had obtained two Demon diaries in total. One had been acquired at Sword Lake in Shanghai City, while the other had been obtained in Nandu.

He had handed both of them over to the Spirit Summoning Society.

Lu Su tentatively asked, "…The Four Calamity Gods?"

"Correct." An approving look appeared on Jin Ping’s face. "When the time comes, I want you to help It descend upon Shanghai City."

Lu Su’s mind trembled violently at those words.

If he remembered correctly—

The Four Calamity Gods were Hall of Fame Grade.