Card Kingdom: This kid's codex is full of gold

Close your eyes, infuse your soul power, and try to communicate telepathically with the skeleton, then have it transmit your sword techniques.

"You can do that?"

Zhang Yun closed his eyes and poured his soul power into the Skull Kaka's card.

The next instant, his body trembled, and his consciousness entered a virtual space.

The little skeleton, Kaka, stood before him, a bone sword held horizontally in front of him, the soul fire in its eye sockets burning quietly.

"Kaka, teach me swordsmanship."

Click?

Kaka tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled.

I don't know why the owner wants to learn swordsmanship from it...

The master can just let it fight; why does it need to become stronger itself?

However, Kaka was still very obedient. It nodded at the little skull, then took a step back and twirled its sword.

He holds the sword in one hand, with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground—a standard swordsmanship starting stance.

Zhang Yun activated his soul power, transforming his arm into water elemental and condensing it into the prototype of a water sword. With another thought, he used his Frost Master talent to freeze the water sword into an ice sword.

Thus, he also obtained a temporary sword.

He imitated Kaka's gesture and also assumed the starting stance.

Kaka-

Kaka stepped forward and gently tapped Zhang Yun's wrist with the spine of his sword, correcting the angle at which he was holding the sword.

He then tapped his ankle with the tip of his sword, signaling him to lower his center of gravity by half an inch.

Zhang Yun did as instructed, completing each movement with utmost seriousness, just like a child holding a pen to write for the first time.

Then, Skeleton Kaka began instructing Zhang Yun on basic sword techniques: swinging the sword, sheathing the sword, parrying, thrusting, and so on...

In the illusory space, Zhang Yun felt neither fatigue nor the passage of time; he simply repeated the actions instructed by the skeleton countless times.

And accept its most rigorous corrections.

Gradually, Zhang Yun's sword strokes became smoother, and his breathing rhythm and footwork also improved...

...

Late at night, at the Lu family mansion.

Outside the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows is the night view of Jiangcheng, with neon lights shining through the glass and casting dappled patterns of light on the dark tiled floor.

Lu Ming sat on the sofa, holding a cup of now-cold black tea, his gaze falling on Lu Xueqi, who was changing her shoes in the entryway.

"Why are you back so late? Where have you been?"

"Didn't I just tell you to go home early?"

"It's none of your business where I go. You're not my dad."

Lu Xueqi kicked the mud-splattered sneakers into the shoe cabinet, stepped barefoot onto the cold floor, slumped onto the sofa, and closed her eyes to rest.

Lu Ming looked at her profile, his usual gentle smile gone, replaced by a stern expression: "You're not allowed to associate with that kid anymore."

Lu Xueqi slightly opened her eyes, glancing at the person out of the corner of her eye: "Who are you talking about?"

"The kid you were with just now."

Lu Ming's brows furrowed even more, and he said coldly, "That kid only finished high school and then learned the Iron Code. He only got close to you because he coveted your status and position."

"That kind of person doesn't deserve to be your friend."

"Hey, Lu Ming, can you please stop criticizing my classmate so easily?"

Lu Xueqi sat up straight on the sofa, exclaiming, "Zhang Yun may come from an ordinary family, but he himself is anything but ordinary!"

"With his abilities, he'll be famous throughout Jiangcheng sooner or later, and even the entire Southern Province!"

"You're getting more and more rebellious, actually protecting a piece of trash like this. I'm very disappointed..."

Lu Ming placed the teacup on the coffee table, shook his head and sighed, "Xueqi, I know you don't like being told what to do, but Dad told me to keep a close eye on you."

"I don't want to tell Dad about this, otherwise you should know what will happen to that good-for-nothing."

"You're not allowed to associate with him anymore, or if Dad finds out, I won't be able to protect you, and that kid will suffer a terrible fate too."

Upon hearing Lu Ming mention his father, Lu Xueqi trembled and her expression stiffened slightly.

But in the next instant, her rebellious streak was aroused.

She suddenly stood up from the sofa, a rare look of anger appearing on her chubby face, and pointed at Lu Ming, yelling, "Lu Ming, mind your own business!"

"Zhang Yun and I are just ordinary classmates; he didn't want anything from me!"

"His deck is stronger than mine, and he's more skilled than me. How could I possibly carry him?"

"Heh, you're a peak second-tier bronze summoner, while that kid's just a cast iron summoner. You think he's stronger than you?"

Lu Ming shook his head and sneered as if he had heard an absurd joke: "You've started making things up to protect him?"

"If that's the case, then as your older brother, I can't let you sink any deeper into this mess."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you even know him...?"

Lu Xueqi was about to tell Zhang Yun about his solo trip to the underground palace, but... she stopped herself from speaking.

Although she had only known Zhang Yun for a short time, she could tell that he was very low-key and did not want people to know that he could access the underground palace alone.

Otherwise, with his abilities, he would have been famous throughout Jiangcheng long ago.

Lu Xueqi guessed that Zhang Yun was probably afraid of becoming too famous, which would attract attention and cause her trouble...

Thinking of this, she could only sigh helplessly and say, "Anyway, Zhang Yun isn't what you think."

"I can stop being friends with him, but you better not cause him any trouble in the future, or you'll definitely regret it, hmph!"

After saying that, Lu Xueqi angrily strode quickly toward the depths of the corridor.

Lu Ming glanced at her retreating figure, his eyes slowly narrowing: "Zhang Yun, right...? My sister dares to defy me, her brother, for your sake..."

"You really know how to charm girls!"

"I just don't know... if you can take a beating, if you can withstand Zhao Long's flaming spear, hmph!"

Lu Ming's eyes flashed with a cold light as he picked up the red tea and drank it all in one gulp.

...

...

Xincheng Residential Area.

It was late at night, and only a few windows in the entire building were still lit.

Wearing pajamas and barefoot, Xiao Zhangqi tiptoed into her sister Zhang Ya's bedroom.

Zhang Ya was fast asleep, drooling at the corner of her mouth, unaware of the drool. On the bedside table lay her bronze codex, its cover gleaming warmly in the moonlight.

Zhang Qi held his breath and took out the gold card that his cousin had given him that day from his pajama pocket.

The card surface was shimmering with dazzling golden light, casting an ever-changing glow on his small face.

He carefully opened Zhang Ya's legal code, found the empty main card slot, aligned the gold card with the slot, and gently pressed it down.

Om-!

The card slot swallowed the card perfectly, and a very faint golden halo appeared on the cover of the codex before returning to calm.

"Hehe, it worked! I can report back to my cousin tomorrow!"

Xiao Zhangqi covered her mouth and chuckled softly. Making sure her sister wasn't awake, she tiptoed back to her room...

...

Time flies, and it was already dawn.

As the phone alarm rang, Zhang Yun opened his eyes, a look of exhaustion on his face.

He glanced out the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows.

The sky outside the window was already turning a pale white.

"It's already dawn...time flies!"

A weary, bitter smile appeared on Zhang Yun's lips. He raised his hand and clenched it, and water elements rapidly accumulated in his hand, condensing into a water sword.

With a firm grip, the water sword instantly froze, transforming into an ice sword as hard as steel.

The next instant, the ice sword in his hand suddenly pierced the air in front of him.

instigate--!

The air was torn apart, producing a sound like a rapidly flying arrow, with both speed and power being extremely strong!

The pleasant notification sound of the Codex Spirit then rang out:

[Ding! Congratulations, Xiao Zhang, you have mastered a Proficient-level sword skill (Rank B). Your personal combat power has increased by 50 points. Your current personal combat power is 550 points.]

Upon hearing the notification tone, Zhang Yun's eyes lit up like light bulbs, and the fatigue on his face was completely replaced by joy...

...

(6000 words updated, but Tomato isn't giving me any traffic, so I only earn 2 yuan a day... Brothers, can you help me out? Give me a 5-star review, like it, and I'll follow up with more updates. Thank you...)