Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 49

Chapter 49: When People Get Old, They Need to Find Some Fun

“Damn it!” Chairman Yu felt Cang Fenghua’s gaze lock onto him and barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. This scoundrel of an old man was clearly plotting to bleed him dry.

“Old Yu, Luke is a registered member of the Cang Ling City Magic Card Association, is he not?” Cang Fenghua coughed, his tone laced with heavy implication. “Now that one of your own is in need of materials, shouldn’t the Association show a little support? After all, the stronger this kid gets, the better it is for all of us.”

“He makes a fair point, Old Yu. We’re all old friends here. Help the boy out if you can,” Principal Gu chimed in from the sidelines, casually fanning the flames. To Gu, it didn’t matter whose vault was emptied as long as his star student reaped the benefits.

‘You were the one who made the promise, what does it have to do with me?’Chairman Yu fumed silently, his blood pressure spiking.’I already bent the rules to recruit Luke! I even promised him elite-tier treatment if he successfully crafts three Six-Star Magic Cards before the college entrance exams end. Isn’t that enough of a special favor?’He shot a glare at Principal Gu.’And why are you butting in, Gu? Don’t think I don’t know exactly what you’re scheming!’

Despite his deep annoyance with the two of them, Chairman Yu finally broke the silence. “The Association does have a set of Dragon Eyes in the vault. However, they belong to the organization. Even as a branch president, I cannot freely distribute these materials privately.”

He leaned heavily on the words freely and privately, his meaning painfully clear.

‘Just ask for the money directly, you old fox!’

Having known the man for decades, Cang Fenghua instantly decoded the underlying extortion. He didn’t bother arguing. He knew he was forcing Yu’s hand, and he also knew the strict internal regulations governing the Magic Card Association across the Ancient Kingdom. Even branch presidents couldn’t just hand out high-tier materials on a whim.

“Alright, spare me the lecture. Just give me a number,” Cang Fenghua sighed, waving a hand dismissively.

“I won’t ask for an exorbitant price.” Chairman Yu shook his head, his expression softening as he turned his attention back to Luke. “Since the City Lord is footing the bill, I will have my people prepare the requisition the moment I return. The materials will be delivered to your hands within two days at the latest.”

Yu paused, his gaze turning serious. “However, I must warn you. The Association only has one pair of Dragon Eyes left in stock. I strongly advise you to hold off on creating this new Magic Card until you are absolutely certain of your success.”

Even a Sovereign Realm master like Yu faced the bitter reality of failure when crafting Magic Cards. Luke had miraculously forged two Six-Star Original Magic Cards already, but luck was a fickle mistress. There was no guarantee his streak would hold—especially since he was attempting a Dragon-type Magic Card, a category notoriously infamous for its punishing difficulty.

In Chairman Yu’s long memory, not a single Magic Card Master had ever maintained a flawless success rate. Not even the legendary Immortal Realm or Undying Realm masters could claim such a feat. In fact, it was a running joke in the industry that a master’s advancement and their card-bursting rate were positively correlated. The higher the realm, the more catastrophic the failures.

“Don’t worry, Chairman Yu,” Luke replied with a calm, understated nod. “I am well aware of the risks.”

Outwardly, he was the picture of a humble student taking advice. Inwardly, he was entirely unbothered. With his simulated construction system, as long as he invested the necessary time, he could guarantee a flawless, one-hundred-percent creation rate. Not a single speck of those precious materials would go to waste.

The meeting concluded shortly after. Luke, Chairman Yu, and Principal Gu were escorted out of the City Lord’s Mansion, leaving Cang Fenghua alone in his expansive office.

The moment the heavy oak doors clicked shut, the City Lord’s casual demeanor vanished. He immediately dismissed his remaining subordinates, locked down the room’s security arrays, and activated a highly encrypted communication channel to the Cang Capital Capital Lord.

As one of the twelve satellite City Lords, Cang Fenghua possessed direct access to the Capital Lord. Because this matter involved the destruction of a Black Gate, he absolutely refused to route the report through standard official channels.

The fewer people who knew Luke was the one who shattered the Black Gate, the safer the boy would be. Cang Fenghua hadn’t even told Da Baiman or Zhao Chengyuan the truth. As for Chairman Yu and Principal Gu, they were seasoned veterans; they knew better than to breathe a word of this without Fenghua’s explicit permission.

History was written in the blood of geniuses. Magic Card Masters who destroyed Black Gates were frequently targeted for assassination by dark factions, their promising futures snuffed out before they could truly bloom. Anyone capable of shattering a gate possessed terrifying talent. Until Luke had fully matured into a powerhouse, Cang Fenghua had to shield him from the shadows.

The communication array hummed to life. A holographic light screen, nearly half the height of a man, materialized in the center of the room.

“Fenghua. Why are you contacting this old man when you ought to be drowning in paperwork? Have you run into some trouble you can’t handle?”

The man on the screen, Cang Ao, appeared to be in his early fifties, a benevolent, knowing smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. But appearances were deceiving. Cang Ao was the Cang Capital Capital Lord, an Immortal Realm Magic Card Master whose sheer power eclipsed the Sovereign Realm entirely.

Among the twelve capitals of the Ancient Kingdom, Cang Ao’s raw strength and centuries of blood-soaked combat experience ranked him firmly in the top three. He was a true titan of war.

While he looked fifty, the lifespan of high-level Magic Card Masters defied mortal comprehension. As an Immortal Realm master, Cang Ao’s true age was a closely guarded secret. The title Immortal wasn’t just for show—it meant absolute resistance to the ravages of time. He could revert to the appearance of a twenty-year-old youth with a single thought, but the old veteran simply couldn’t be bothered with such vanity.

More, Cang Ao held one other title: he was Cang Fenghua’s grandfather.

“Grandpa, does that mean I’m forbidden from calling you unless the sky is falling?” Cang Fenghua muttered, his imposing City Lord aura deflating instantly. He felt a sudden wave of speechlessness. The old man always made it sound like he was still a reckless teenager crawling back home after picking a street fight.

Naturally, despite his lofty status, Cang Fenghua wouldn’t dare show an ounce of disrespect to the man on the screen. He swallowed his internal complaints and maintained a posture of strict reverence.

“Heh. Don’t forget I watched you grow up in wet trousers. How could your little schemes escape this old man’s notice?” Cang Ao rolled his eyes, his smile widening into a teasing grin. “Tell me, when have you ever come to me unless you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest you couldn’t squash yourself?”

The old man knew him too well. Fenghua only had to shift his weight, and Cang Ao already knew what he was plotting.

“Uh… Grandpa, I’m not a child anymore,” Cang Fenghua stammered, his face flushing with embarrassment at being so thoroughly read.

He was a Sovereign Realm master! A City Lord! Didn’t he have any dignity left? If anyone else had spoken to him like that, Cang Fenghua would have gladly shown them the terrifying, bone-crushing reality of a Sovereign’s wrath.

But against Cang Ao? He had absolutely no use. The man’s seniority outranked his own father, and his strength was enough to string Fenghua up by his ankles and beat him senseless. Yielding was the only logical survival strategy.

In front of Cang Ao, he would always just be a grandson. Growing up, Fenghua had endured so much strict discipline from the old man that he used to genuinely wonder if he had been adopted from a dumpster. While other children were spoiled by their grandparents, Fenghua had to survive a heavy-handed father and an even more merciless grandfather.

In the entire Cang family, nobody dared to act presumptuously in front of Cang Ao. The few who had tried were likely fertilizing the grave grass by now.

“Alright, alright. Out with it. What do you want?” Seeing his grandson’s thoroughly discomfited expression, Cang Ao’s mood visibly brightened.

It couldn’t be helped. When people got old, they needed to find some fun to pass the time—especially when that fun involved tormenting their own flesh and blood.

Cang Fenghua sighed, utterly helpless against the old man’s teasing, but he didn’t waste another second. Steeling his expression, he slowly began to recount the impossible feats of a young student named Luke.