Chapter Fifteen: Rising from the Ground, the Poker Sovereign

“Please follow me, honored Sages!” The white-haired steward who had been injured earlier reappeared, lively as ever.

“Aren’t you…” Seeing the steward full of energy, Zhang Long couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s nothing serious, just a common occurrence. In the past, when the Supreme Leader lost control of his killing intent, it made us servants live in constant fear. Fortunately, you Sages brought Recovery Potions. The injuries I sustained were healed with just a level-two potion!” With a quick turn, the white-haired steward led the three of them—Chen Ling, Zhang Long, and Xing Ye—into a long corridor lined with rooms of various sizes.

“That’s good to hear.” Chen Ling offered a kind smile.

“Thank you for your concern, Sages. These three rooms—220, 221, and 222—are for you. Please!” The steward smiled back and pointed to the rooms.

“Uh…” 2! 2! 2! What a joke! The three of them thought in unison, their faces betraying their mixed feelings.

“Hey, hey, boss, I’m just your little brother, I’ll take the highest number then!” Without hesitation, Zhang Long dashed into Room 220 and slammed the door behind him.

“I’ll take 221.” Without further explanation, Xing Ye went straight into Room 221. Yet his trembling shoulders and occasional, muffled laughter gave away his amusement.

“...Damn it! These two are so unreliable. Maybe I should… never mind. By the way, is there another room available?” Chen Ling muttered curses under his breath about his disloyal friends while asking the steward for another room.

“Yes, of course! Please follow me.” The steward was used to such requests from Chen Ling. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder: Why do all the Sages want to change rooms whenever they’re assigned this number? And why do their friends always look so pleased about it? He didn’t understand what Room 222 meant on Earth; if he did, it would all make sense...

In the end, Chen Ling moved into Room 230 at the end of the corridor—a perfectly ordinary room. After a shower, he lay on his bed, ready to activate his wristband to enter GM mode, but a prompt appeared: the GM was acquiring certain permissions and would be available in three hours. Maintenance, he guessed—there should be compensation for this… Chen Ling was not someone to let even the smallest benefit slip by.

Three hours flew by, as quickly as rainwater is absorbed by a parched desert.

Logging into GM mode, Chen Ling eagerly commanded, “Show me all the cards!”

“All items available to the player have been listed,” the GM’s voice remained as indifferent as ever.

[Thunder God Bomb]—Sealed Technique Card; [Microstar]—Sealed Technique Card; [72 Earthly Fiends]—Summoning Beast Card; [36 Heavenly Spirits]—Summoning Beast Card; [Flame Shadow Banshee]—Sealed Beast Card; [Giant Crab]—Sealed Beast Card… The sheer number of cards surpassed Chen Ling’s expectations. Even if he spent the entire day browsing, he wouldn’t finish. With luck, most exotic beasts could be sealed! Who knew how many strange creatures existed in this world?

“Hmm… List all cards under 1300 black coins!” Chen Ling adjusted the price filter and continued to browse.

“All items available to the player have been listed,” came the same monotonous reply.

[Thunder God Bomb]—Sealed Technique Card; [Giant Crab]—Sealed Beast Card; [Sky Roaring Ant]—Sealed Beast Card; [Solomon Deck]—Player Entertainment Card; [Earth Dog Star]—Summoning Beast Card; [Earth Thief Star]—Summoning Beast Card… Damn! Still so many! Chen Ling cursed inwardly.

“Is it really this hard to find a material card for making a Divine Seal Card!?” Chen Ling genuinely felt like banging his head through the wall—unfortunately, an ordinary wall wasn’t enough to do him in.

“If the player wishes to craft a Divine Seal Card, I suggest you choose the Custom Deck.” Unexpectedly, the usually reticent GM actively addressed Chen Ling. But the real point was what the GM mentioned: the Custom Deck.

“Show me this Custom Deck you’re talking about!” Chen Ling asked without delay.

“[Blank Card]—A card with no attributes, effects, or data. One red coin per card.” The GM returned to its cold tone.

“Damn it! A card with nothing on it costs 1000 black coins! Come out here, GM, and fight me one-on-one!” Chen Ling roared, but the GM replied with its customary indifference, “There is only one reason: precisely because it has nothing, it is worth one red coin.”

“That’s a reasonable explanation! GM, give me one!” If anyone else heard both the reason and the buyer’s response, they’d have no choice but to admit, “I服了you.”

“Purchase successful.”

A beam of white light flashed into Chen Ling’s hand. As the light faded, a plain, rectangular card with absolutely nothing on it appeared before his eyes.

“GM, can I use this card directly?” Chen Ling asked, holding the Blank Card, sounding a bit foolish.

“The player has two options: One, establish a mode for the Blank Card (for example, [36 Heavenly Spirits] and [72 Earthly Fiends] are both sets; once the first card is crafted, the total number in the set is fixed, while for entertainment decks like the [Solomon Deck], different symbols indicate ranks). Two, use it directly without constructing a mode.”

“I see…” After listening to the GM’s explanation, Chen Ling understood. It was best to define a set when crafting the Divine Seal Card, integrating it as a deck. But which kind of deck would be best?

“How could I be so foolish!” Chen Ling berated himself, smacking his head. Fifty-four Sealed Beast Cards—wasn’t that the exact number of cards in a standard deck of playing cards? In his previous life, he’d been a gambling king, a master of cards, and yet he’d forgotten his own specialty here! “GM, help me engrave this design onto the Blank Card!” Chen Ling drew the image of the three of spades and had the GM carve it onto the Blank Card. With that, his first card template was about to be completed—he felt a surge of excitement.

“Template engraving successful! Would the player like to establish a unique deck?”

“Establish!”

“Data reading in progress… Reading complete. Please specify the types, quantities, and names of the cards…”

As the GM’s voice faded, a variety of tables appeared in Chen Ling’s mind, allowing him to create virtual templates and input information.

“Sealed Beast Cards: a deck of 54 cards, named Supreme Deity! The template is: four cards each from two to ten, four each of jack, queen, king, and ace, and one small joker and one big joker! The template design is…”