Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Magic Card Version of the Grand Line?

“I knew it. I definitely couldn’t hide it from Grandpa.” A magnetic, elegant voice echoed through the spacious office. A faint, graceful smile appeared on Shangguan Wan’er’s face as she stepped into the room.

“Besides you, no one else would come visiting at this hour.” Hearing his granddaughter’s familiar voice, Shangguan Hong shook his head with a warm, indulgent expression.

“Father and Mother haven’t seen you come home for so long, so they sent me to check on you.” Shangguan Wan’er explained smoothly, her posture refined. “Did I disturb you, Grandpa?”

Just outside the heavy oak doors, she had vaguely heard Shangguan Hong conversing with someone. Unfortunately, the soundproofing was too good for her to hear clearly, so she had waited patiently in the corridor until the voices faded before reaching out to knock.

“No matter. It’s just that Cangling City has produced quite the prodigy this year, and I was discussing the matter with Little Yu.” Waving his weathered hand, Shangguan Hong indicated that it was perfectly fine.

Although he used the term ‘prodigy’ to describe Luke, the old man understood perfectly well that this description fell entirely short. A young man who had successfully forged an Original Magic Card was already far beyond the world of a mere prodigy. However, he had absolutely no intention of revealing the existence of the Original Magic Card here—not even to Shangguan Wan’er, his own flesh and blood.

More, even with Chairman Yu’s personal assurance and his own approval of Luke’s promotion to Elite Member, Shangguan Hong still needed to confirm the boy’s capabilities with his own two eyes. It was a cautious habit he had cultivated over decades of overseeing the association.

A prodigy? Shangguan Wan’er’s delicate features suddenly shifted into an expression of genuine interest. Only a vanishingly small number of Magic Card Masters would ever earn the title of prodigy from Shangguan Hong’s strict lips. She herself was one of those rare few.

As a prime candidate for the upcoming college entrance examination in Cang Capital, and the sole heir to the prestigious Shangguan family, she possessed astonishing innate talent. Coupled with the vast mountain of resources provided by her lineage, she had already broken through the Battle General Realm and firmly stepped into the Commander Realm, leaving her peers eating dust in her wake.

Reaching the Commander Realm before the college entrance examination was a feat that, even in the sprawling expanse of Cang Capital, only she had achieved. Consequently, she stood as the undisputed strongest among this year’s crop of candidates.

It was just a pity that the prodigy she envisioned in her mind still possessed quite a massive gap compared to the monstrous anomaly that was Luke.

“Speaking of which, in the upcoming Youth Training Competition, he will also be participating as Cangling City’s recommended candidate. Perhaps you two can get to know each other then.” Shangguan Hong did not mind his granddaughter interacting with Luke. In fact, he encouraged it, especially considering the boy’s identity as an Original Magic Card Creator.

Getting acquainted with another Magic Card Master who vastly surpassed the standard prodigy level—especially one capable of forging an Original Magic Card—would bring immense benefits to both Wan’er and the entire Shangguan family.

Such an opportunity was practically a once-in-a-millennium stroke of fortune. Nearly a thousand years had drifted by since the last Original Magic Card Creator graced the world.

“In that case, it seems I will have to pay close attention to him.” Slightly surprised by her grandfather’s unusually high praise, her interest deepened considerably. A Magic Card Master capable of garnering such intense focus from Shangguan Hong, especially a peer of a similar age, made her incredibly curious about just how special this boy truly was.

‘A message?’After finishing a simple, satisfying dinner, Luke sat on the sofa, listening to the cheerful sound of Mana humming a sweet melody in the kitchen. His communication device chimed with a notification from the Magic Card Association.’This processing speed is exactly what Chairman Yu promised. Quite fast.’

The opening text was the standard, uninformative corporate welcome, followed immediately by a complete breakdown of Elite Member privileges and how they vastly differed from the standard tier.

Luke quickly skimmed through the glowing text, absorbing the general details. In short, the benefits of being an Elite Member completely crushed those of ordinary members.

The lucrative purchase discounts and mission priority rights that Chairman Yu had mentioned earlier were prominently listed. Additionally, Elite Members were entitled to a fixed stipend of rare resources from the association every single month, alongside priority access to newly discovered Dimensional Realms.

It was not an devastating amount of wealth, but the sheer convenience would save him an enormous amount of time and trouble.

However, among the long list of perks, a completely new feature locked Luke’s attention—the Card World!

The Card World was a highly restricted Dimensional Realm integrated directly into the Magic Card Association’s core system. Access was strictly gated; only association members who had attained the Elite Member rank or higher possessed the right to enter.

According to the lore files attached to the message, the Card World was a unique dimension refined by the Founding Supreme of the Ancient Kingdom, forged by fusing a fallen world at an unimaginable cost.

Although that legendary Founding Supreme had vanished into the river of time long ago, the Card World remained intact, passed down through the generations. Rumors constantly swirled among the elite that certain fortunate Magic Card Masters had even caught glimpses of the Founding Supreme’s phantom wandering within its borders!

Naturally, very few people actually believed those ghost stories. Tens of thousands of years had passed since that era. Even if a Supreme Realm expert possessed the power to achieve eternal life alongside heaven and earth, an existence of that magnitude would fade into myth if they remained hidden for too long.

Especially after tens of thousands of years, the lineage of Magic Card Masters had cycled through countless generations, let alone the fleeting lives of ordinary citizens.

However, a second rumor held far more traction and widespread acceptance.

It was said that the Card World contained the entire hoarded collection of the Founding Supreme’s life. As long as a challenger could uncover this hidden treasury, advancing to the Undying Realm would be as effortless as breathing. There was even a massive chance to break through to the Supreme Realm, allowing one to step into the absolute highest sequence of Magic Card Masters.

It was precisely this tantalizing legend that drove countless Magic Card Masters into an absolute frenzy of exploration.

“Why does this setup feel exactly like the Grand Line?” As Luke scrolled through the encrypted information regarding the Card World, he muttered to himself in dry amusement. He genuinely wondered who had originally spread this treasure rumor. Perhaps the upper echelons of the Magic Card Association had intentionally leaked it to lure all the ambitious Magic Card Masters into working for them.

After all, while Elite Members gained the basic qualification to enter the Card World, actually stepping through the portal required a staggering fee. It was essentially a premium entry ticket.

Despite his cynical thoughts, Luke felt a strong surge of interest toward this mysterious dimension. Anything involving a Supreme Realm expert carried immense weight; even if the treasure rumor was completely fabricated, the residual energy and resources inside would still drive people mad with greed.

The Card World was incomprehensibly vast. After thousands of years of endless exploration by waves of Magic Card Masters, the dimension’s total area remained largely uncharted. Among those past explorers were Undying Realm Domain Lords and even subsequent generations of Supreme Realm experts.

This glaring fact made everyone realize a terrifying possibility: the Founding Supreme of the Ancient Kingdom might have actually taken the final step toward becoming a true god. Otherwise, how could successive Supreme Realm experts fail to fully map out the territory?

“A god?” Reading this speculation, Luke’s gaze deepened, his dark eyes reflecting the glow of the screen.

Within the established hierarchy of Magic Card Masters, the highest known sequence was the Supreme Realm. Even across the entire Ancient Kingdom, boasting a staggering population of nearly ten billion citizens, only a single Supreme Realm expert existed in any given generation.

For the Ancient Kingdom, the sheer rarity of Supreme Realm experts was entirely unique. Zooming out to the entire Magic Card Civilization across the globe, the total number of these apex entities was horrifyingly low.

In the current modern era, including the Ancient Kingdom’s sole protector, there were only three Supreme Realm experts alive in the entire Magic Card Civilization! That number was even smaller than the amount of Undying Realm experts residing in a single nation!

Perhaps the Founding Supreme of this Ancient Kingdom had truly shattered the mortal ceiling and stepped into the God Realm. That would perfectly explain why the Card World he left behind was so impossibly resilient and expansive. Even with the combined efforts of modern Supreme Realm and Undying Realm Magic Card Masters over millennia, it remained an unconquered frontier.

It was precisely because of this lingering divine mystery that no Magic Card Master could ever resist the fatal allure of the Card World.