Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

It was a card with such intricate patterns that it was dazzling; I only glanced at it.

Jiang Zhe suddenly felt a sense of oppression wash over him.

"This is my core card, Gravity Field."

Professor Lin looked at the cards in his hand, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes.

"A core card is not just a powerful combat card."

"It's more like an amplifier that belongs to you."

"It's like a central hub, which processes and compresses the mental energy you're using, and then radiates it to other cards."

He pointed to the escape card in Jiang Zhe's hand.

"Like this card you modified, if it's paired with a suitable core card, its effect can be increased by at least 30%."

"Moreover, this is also the foundation for your path to level five or even higher."

When Professor Lin mentioned that level of attainment, his tone became somewhat wistful.

"When I was young, I went to the capital for an exchange program and had the honor of meeting a Level 5 Grand Card Master."

"That person uses the core card with great skill; he doesn't even need to deliberately activate it."

"With just a thought, one can easily annihilate a level three magical beast."

"Level 5...easily annihilating a level 3 magical beast?"

Jiang Zhe was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

The highest-level being he's seen so far is probably the twisted tree spirit at the processing station.

If it weren't for the fact that his fighting style was a perfect counter, he would have been really difficult to defeat.

And level three...

"That's right, the fifth level of a card master is a huge watershed."

"Below level five, even a peak level four expert's fighting style is still traceable."

"But once you cross level five..."

Professor Lin took a deep breath, and his tone became serious.

"That's completely different. Their all-out battle has transcended the card-based exchange and even touched the edge of some kind of rule."

"However, these things are still too far away for you and me."

He abruptly changed the subject, bringing it back to reality.

"If you want to purify your spiritual power, besides persistent effort, there's actually a shortcut..."

As he spoke, he pulled out an old sheepskin map from the drawer and heavily marked a red circle on it.

"This is?"

Jiang Zhe took a closer look and found that the red circle was located at the junction of three cities, with complex terrain.

"Triangular Relics Cluster"

"That's a resource-rich area jointly controlled by three cities, with a unique environment."

"special?"

"That's right," Professor Lin nodded.

"Although no one knows why, even simple meditation in that group of ruins can purify one's mental energy several times faster than in the outside world."

"Is this automatic cultivation?" Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up.

This is practically a natural AFK farming pool!

"But don't get too excited yet."

Professor Lin seemed to have seen through his thoughts and immediately poured cold water on them.

"You can't stay in that place for too long, or your body will have some strange reactions."

"It's like dizziness, nausea, or skin bleeding or something."

Why does this sound like radiation poisoning? Jiang Zhe thought to himself.

"And even if we were to go, we'd have to go with the Academy's Relics Exploration Department."

"Unfortunately, those guys from the Exploration Department have recently been focusing their efforts on the fragments of the ruins."

"So, you'll have to wait a few more days if you want to go there."

"Alright then," Jiang Zhe shrugged with some regret.

However, there is indeed no rush.

My mental strength is growing rapidly now; even if the quality isn't high, the quantity is sufficient.

"Don't be too anxious."

Professor Lin patted him on the shoulder, his tone becoming gentler.

"You're still young, and you have a long road ahead of you."

"Sometimes don't push yourself too hard. You should enjoy life when you can, instead of being like me."

"It's all about cards all day long, life is so monotonous."

Do you enjoy life?

Jiang Zhe touched his chin, and some strange images involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Well... I really should enjoy myself.

"Since it will be a few more days before we can go to the ruins, you happen to have some free time."

Professor Lin put away the map on the table and said casually.

"The new students should all arrive in a couple of days."

"The principal will probably do some kind of selection process among the students again, and make us old bones pick a few to mentor."

"But he wasn't willing to select students from families with powerful connections."

When this was mentioned, Professor Lin couldn't help but show a hint of disgust on his face.

"So I really don't want to go, but I have no choice. If I don't go, that guy will be as annoying as a fly."

"Of my current students, apart from Su Man, who was genuinely drawn to her spirituality, the others were basically just crammed in like this."

He turned to look at Jiang Zhe, a sly glint in his old eyes.

"You should come with me then, after all, you're practically a teacher now."

"Let's forget it, I don't have much free time lately." Jiang Zhe shook his head and refused.

"I just received a big order for card modification this morning, and I'm also busy with opening the store."

"Change the card number when opening a store?"

Professor Lin was taken aback upon hearing this, then his eyes darted around and he revealed a meaningful smile.

"If it's a card like yours, then the technology involved is definitely more advanced, but you don't need to do every step yourself, right?"

"For example, the most basic material smelting, using mental power to soften metals, and so on..."

"These tedious and time-consuming steps can be easily delegated to others."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Zhe asked thoughtfully.

"What I mean is, aren't those freshmen just a great source of free labor?"

Professor Lin chuckled and began to share his life experiences.

"If a few clever people could handle all the preparation steps for you, and you only need to focus on assembly, wouldn't that be much more efficient?"

"That's the logic..."

Jiang Zhe touched his chin, somewhat hesitant.

"But I don't have the extra budget to hire people."

"Hiring? Talking about money is so vulgar."

Professor Lin glared at him, looking utterly disappointed, and slammed his fist on the table.

"You're still too young!"

"You're my teaching assistant, a rising star in the college!"

"What a tremendous opportunity it is for ordinary freshmen to be able to observe you making cards up close, and even participate in it personally?"

"And they should be grateful and thank you for that."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe's lips twitched violently.

Looking at this upright old man, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Old ginger is spicier; this is the ugly face of capitalism.

But... thinking about it carefully, it seems like it might work?

His Waterblade Card modification required melting deep-sea mithril into a specific shape, a process that, while short, was indeed tedious.

If you just need to train them and teach them how to do it, you can indeed save a lot of time and energy.

"Alright, I'll go take a look then," Jiang Zhe nodded, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"Perfect opportunity to go and see if there are any top-quality, cheap laborers."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. I still need to get my documents processed."

Jiang Zhe got up to say goodbye, but as he reached the door, he turned back and gave a final word of advice.

"By the way, Mr. Lin, you'd better be careful this time, otherwise if something happens again, the principal might really have a heart attack."

"Go to the side, I already said it was a momentary mistake."

Professor Lin waved without turning his head, his attention clearly shifting to designing the cards.

Jiang Zhe smiled upon hearing this, then turned and walked out of the laboratory.