232 The Folding Yanbo Card I (1/2)

Chen Mu grabbed a pile of the materials he needed as the fatty and Xi Ping looked on anxiously. It was no wonder; the materials Chen Mu grabbed were all the most precious among them.

Since he had made up his mind to show what he could do, Chen Mu wasn't going to hide behind the easy stuff. He had gotten ready to make one of the most powerful cards he could make just then—the folding Yanbo card. He had researched the procedures and steps for making that card for a long time, and it could be said to be cooked into his mind. But, he had never had enough materials, in addition to most of his energy being devoted to the tailless shuttle card. He had hardly gotten caught up in the folding Yanbo card.

It was now time to demonstrate his strength, and the folding Yanbo card would naturally make a good choice. He was confident about everything that had shown up in the mysterious card. And, with such a complete set of materials in that place, there were all the critical materials for the folding Yanbo card. He could find replacements for those few that weren't there.

The materials required for each kind of card composition were different. So, one inevitable responsibility of the card master was to be able to find substitutes.

Moreover, each type of card didn't just have a single composition. Chen Mu had found 12 different compositions for even the simple one-star power card.

In the eyes of a card master, the composition of cards was quite flexible. What was known then about materials formulation was all summarized from prior research. Every type of card, and especially high-grade cards, might have upwards of dozens or even a hundred kinds of required materials. To think of staying strictly in accordance with the formulation would be too difficult. So, card masters had come up with techniques for finding their replacements.

There were quite a few works on that, such as the rather common ”Table of Physical Properties” or the ”Handbook of Materials Science” and so forth. Among the Big Six, they would often have their own related internally written handbooks. Those were several times more valuable than the ones seen on the market, and they couldn't be purchased on the outside.

However, not all materials could be substituted. Every card composition had a few critical materials, which were irreplaceable. Which materials could be substituted and what could be used as a substitute, and what the results were like, were all a deep and vast topic of study.

Of course, they couldn't make cards in the warehouse. In order to get the best results, Chen Mu accompanied the fatty to a specialized card making studio.

Xi Ping went ahead and lightly knocked. An old voice came from within. ”Who is it?”

”It's me!” Xi Ping replied.

”Come in.”

Pushing open the door, a dark-haired old man was in the middle of an experiment. The old man was taken aback to see Yang An. ”What are you doing here, An?”

”Pearson. I need to borrow your card making studio for a while.”

”I'm in the middle of conducting an experiment, An,” Pearson said discontentedly. He was waving his withered arm. ”I thought you were bringing me materials; I never imagined you would actually crash my card making studio!”

”Ha ha, we won't be too long. I will compensate you for the materials.” The fatty spoke nonchalantly and immediately turned to Chen Mu to say, ”Use whatever you need, my boy, and if you need Pearson to assist you, instruct him as you please.”

”An!” Pearson's expression became a little ugly, and he couldn't help but snarl. ”You want me to be the assistant to this guy whose mop hasn't even grown out? What an insult to this mid-grade, titled card master! A very serious insult!”

Frowning, Xi Ping interjected from the side. ”You consumed 3 million Oudi in materials last month, Pearson, and so far, you haven't succeeded to make a single card. Are you thinking of paying back that chunk of change?”

Up until then, Pearson had wasted about 30 million Oudi in materials to come up with nothing. But, that project was something the big boss had agreed to, and he couldn't really object.

Pearson's face turned red. He kept smiling with embarrassment, saying, ”An, please believe me, the experiments are about to succeed! Just give me a few more months, and I'll surely succeed!”

The fatty signaled him to stop and tipped his head to ask, ”If he needs it, help this Mr. Cao.”

”No problem!” Pearson washed away his anger and patted his chest. ”Pearson is an outstanding assistant!”

The fatty turned around and smiled at Chen Mu to say, ”Just ask, young brother. If you need any assistance, go to Pearson. He is a mid-grade card master with a pretty good foundation.”

”I'll be a high-grade card artisan in a jiffy!” Pearson couldn't help but make the distinction.

Chen Mu nodded. ”Ok.” Then, he started to arrange the materials he had brought from the warehouse on the desk.

”Oh my god! My lord, what I am seeing? I must be dreaming. Liquid snow iron! This is liquid snow iron. I am actually looking at liquid snow iron!” Pearson started shaking in his excitement, making his frail body look as though it were a reed fluttering in the wind. That old face, like a dried-up orange peel, had flushed red. He blurted as though he were spitting beads from his mouth, ”This is cat's eye sandalwood. Good lord, it's at least ten years old! Star tuber grass? Could this be star tuber grass? Ah! Cross-grain shark wood, good lord, this must be an illusion. I must have gone crazy wanting some cross-grain shark wood...”