Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 98

Chapter 98: First Place in the College Entrance Exam! Land of the New Moon!

The reward for securing first place in the College Entrance Exam?

Luke leaned back slightly, his interest piqued. He wasn’t exactly surprised that the Ancient Kingdom offered a prize for the top ranker—that was standard practice to incentivize the younger generation. But for a man of Cang Fenghua’s status to personally bring it up, the reward had to involve a secret far beyond the usual allocation of resources or rare materials.

Just how outrageous could the prize for conquering the Eastern Region’s examination really be?

“The Ancient Kingdom is divided into the Four Great Regions. Although the College Entrance Exam in each major territory takes place simultaneously, the leaderboards are entirely independent of one another,” Cang Fenghua said, his tone turning serious as he skipped the pleasantries. “Cang Capital is one of the Eastern Region’s Three Capitals. To put it plainly, the annual exam is essentially a brutal, high-stakes battlefield for the most talented youths of these three powerhouses.”

Luke nodded slowly. The true essence of the exam was a proving ground for the elite, a way to filter the absolute best from the merely gifted.

“Every year, the ultimate prize for the champion of the Eastern Region is fixed,” Cang Fenghua continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper as if guarding a state secret. “It is a guaranteed entry quota into the Land of the New Moon.”

‘Land of the New Moon?’ Luke committed the name to memory. He had scoured countless forums and read through extensive academy archives, yet he had never encountered a single mention of this place.

Despite his curiosity, Luke remained perfectly still, his expression calm. He waited patiently for the older man to elaborate. If Cang Fenghua had brought it up, an explanation was sure to follow.

“This so-called Land of the New Moon is a highly restricted, incredibly unique Dimensional Plane anchored within the Eastern Region,” Cang Fenghua explained, confirming Luke’s silent deduction. “It has existed for an unfathomably long time. Even I am not entirely certain of the exact era this Dimensional Plane was first discovered.”

Cang Fenghua paused, letting the weight of the revelation settle in the quiet room. “But there is one absolute truth known to the higher-ups: any Magic Card Master who steps foot into the Land of the New Moon will receive a special phenomenon known as the New Moon Blessing.”

New Moon Blessing.

The words carried a heavy, almost mystical weight. Luke analyzed the implication. For the Ancient Kingdom to consistently offer this specific entry quota as the ultimate prize across countless generations of exams, the value of this blessing had to be astronomical. If it were a mediocre buff, it would have been phased out of the reward pool decades ago.

“The types of New Moon Blessings one can manifest are wonderfully diverse,” Cang Fenghua elaborated, his eyes gleaming with a hint of reverence. “For instance, some Magic Card Masters receive a deep enlightenment regarding a specific archetype of Magic Card. Once blessed, their success rate when crafting that specific type of card will permanently lock above seventy percent.”

Crafting Magic Cards was a notoriously volatile process. A single lapse in focus or a slight impurity in the materials could result in catastrophic failure. Maintaining a guaranteed seventy percent success rate for high-level cards was an ability that could elevate a Master to immense wealth and status.

Luke, however, remained inwardly unfazed. Thanks to his Simulated Construction, he already possessed an ability that vastly outstripped this particular blessing. As long as he invested enough time and mental power in the simulation space, his crafting success rate was an absolute, flawless one hundred percent.

“Other Magic Card Masters experience something far more violent and direct,” Cang Fenghua said, leaning forward. “Their existing Magic Cards are permanently upgraded in rank. The baseline increase is a full level. There are historical records of terrifying anomalies where a card jumped two or even three levels at once, though such miracles are less than one in a thousand. The vast majority receive a single, solid rank increase.”

Now that was a terrifying prospect. A direct increase in a Magic Card’s level was the most brutal, obvious method of skyrocketing one’s combat strength. Even a single level was a massive qualitative leap for a Magic Card Spirit’s fundamental power.

Take the Red-Eyes Meteor Dragon and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon as prime examples. A mere one-star difference in rank equated to an impossible chasm in destructive output, often serving as the deciding factor between life and death on the battlefield.

If someone were lucky enough to trigger a two or three-level jump, a standard Six-Star Magic Card could instantly break through to Eight-Star or even Nine-Star, crashing into the absolute peak of high-level summons. A card of that caliber would remain a Master’s main force well into the later stages of their cultivation journey.

“Regardless of the specific manifestation, one thing is guaranteed,” Cang Fenghua concluded, his gaze locking onto Luke. “As long as a Magic Card Master enters that plane and bathes in the New Moon Blessing, their fundamental strength will undergo a permanent, explosive evolution.”

‘This New Moon Blessing really is something else,’ Luke thought, completely retracting his initial skepticism. The reward for first place was genuinely worthy of the bloodshed it caused among the region’s geniuses.

Still, based on Cang Fenghua’s description, the blessings were highly randomized and tailored to the individual. The two examples provided, while incredible for a normal person, actually overlapped heavily with Luke’s own system capabilities. He could already guarantee crafting success, and he could infinitely enhance his cards through his unique pathways.

“City Lord Cang,” Luke asked, his voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere. “Did you ever enter the Land of the New Moon?”

Given that the quota was strictly reserved for the champion of the Eastern Region, Luke figured that a man powerful enough to rule Cang Capital had a high probability of having dominated his own generation’s exam. If Cang Fenghua had personally experienced the blessing, Luke could extract much more detailed intelligence from him.

Cang Fenghua’s expression instantly froze. He cleared his throat, his gaze shifting away to stare awkwardly at the wall. “I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. I… never actually earned the right to enter the Land of the New Moon back in my day.”

Ah. So the City Lord hadn’t managed to secure first place.

Noticing the distinct flash of embarrassment in the older man’s eyes, Luke realized he had accidentally poked a very old, very sore wound. A brief, heavy silence blanketed the room.

“Although I failed to grasp that opportunity, you are an entirely different monster,” Cang Fenghua said, quickly recovering his composure. He knew the young man hadn’t meant any disrespect. “Based on the terrifying consistency of your performance, you have a very real, tangible chance of crushing the competition and taking first place this year. That is exactly why I came here to reveal the existence of the Land of the New Moon to you.”

Cang Fenghua stood up, his imposing aura returning. “For both public glory and private ambition, I genuinely hope you conquer this exam. And it isn’t just me—Old Yu, Principal Gu, and the rest of the upper echelon are all waiting to see you reach the summit.”

“In that case, I really can’t afford to disappoint you all.” A confident, razor-sharp grin spread across Luke’s face. He had never planned on holding back his strength during the exam anyway. Now, with the tantalizing mystery of the Land of the New Moon dangling in front of him, the idea of settling for anything less than absolute victory was completely erased from his mind.

“Good. Now that my business here is concluded, I should take my leave.” Having spent over ten minutes securing the young prodigy’s motivation, Cang Fenghua prepared to depart.

If it hadn’t been for the necessity of personally delivering the highly classified Black Gate reward, combined with the need to brief Luke on the New Moon, the City Lord would never have left his heavily guarded office. With both objectives complete, he needed to return to the mountain of administrative documents waiting for him at the Lord’s Mansion.

“Land of the New Moon… If I actually secure the quota, what kind of bizarre mutation will my blessing take?” Luke murmured to himself after seeing Cang Fenghua out.

He allowed the thought to linger for a few seconds before forcefully clearing his mind. The exam and the subsequent blessing were future problems. Right now, his priority was the sleek, dark object resting on his table.

He picked up the Storage Magic Card containing the Black Gate reward. The surface of the card was cold to the touch, engraved with the complex, authoritative crest of the Lord’s Mansion of Cang Capital—a mark he recognized instantly from his time in the Youth Training Competition. He was deeply curious to see exactly what kind of treasure could make a powerhouse like Cang Fenghua express genuine envy.

Closing his eyes, Luke channeled a dense thread of mental power, piercing the card’s dimensional seal.

As his consciousness swept over the contents hidden within the spatial void, his breath hitched. He instantly realized that his previous assumptions had been completely wrong. He had severely underestimated the sheer, terrifying wealth of the Cang Capital’s Lord’s Mansion.