Chapter 10: The Ancient Presence

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Dim skies.

Collapsed world.

When Lu Ming awoke, he was greeted with such a scene.

The entire world seemed to have become glass that was filled with cracks, looking like it was about to shatter anytime. Countless incomprehensible runes were imprinted on the voids. It was bizarre and mysterious.

“What is this place?” Lu Ming pondered.

He remembered that he had activated that card fragment and caused an outburst of energy…

“This is an illusion?” Lu Ming was jolted awake.

Illusion!

Right!

This was actually the illusion that was activated by that card fragment?

Putting aside the energy outburst caused by the activation of the card fragment, just one-tenth of the card could actually activate the illusion. What exactly was the level of this card?

Lu Ming felt a little panicky. He was expecting something.

He got up.

He looked around.

Instantly, his eyes were fixated on the center of the illusion.

In this collapsed world, that was the only complete place. A soft mat with a small creature nesting on it.

A creature?!

Lu Ming’s eyes widened suddenly.

A living thing actually appeared at such a place?

Never did he imagine that a living thing would appear in such a small and special world!

That was a creature that was not big in size. Its black hairs was full of texture. It looked soft and smooth and with a slightly voluptuous body, which gave others feelings of indolence and elegance. It actually looked stunning and breathtaking. Wait… breathtaking? Voluptuous?

These characteristics were actually not a big deal.

However, at the thought of its origins, the Small Yellow Card, Lu Ming gasped coldly.

He was feeling extreme horror.

Did people nowadays have such a strong taste?

This… Not even letting this go?

All of a sudden, thoughts flashed in Lu Ming’s mind, remembering a story about a particular senior grandmaster who had created this kind of super high-level illusion due to a peculiar hobby that the world was not receptive to… He specially created a card to satisfy his special needs and plots that could not be made known to the outside world.

The current scene spoke more than one million words.

“True enough, all masters have quirks.”

Lu Ming heaved continuous sighs.

He treaded towards it. As expected, that living thing was not breathing.

“Dead.”

Lu Ming felt a little regretful.

Apparently… this was a small world created by the illusion.

The purpose of this small world was to nurture the existence of this creature. However, as the illusion was ruined, the world collapsed and only the card fragment was left, this creature also died.

“However… The Illusion Card is only a replicate of the illusion! This dead one is just a replicate of the creature in the illusion. It’s original body should still be alive,” Lu Ming said.

Inexplicably, he actually heaved a sigh of relief.

The death of such a living thing was a huge pity. The effect brought upon by the illusion was indeed extraordinary.

He shook his head.

Lu Ming put away all these messy thoughts.

Click!

Click!

Faint cracking sounds could be heard.

Lu Ming lifted his head and looked over in the direction of the sound. As expected, the cracks surrounding him in this illusion were beginning to spread rapidly. It went to show that the card fragment supporting this illusion could no longer hold on.

“It is a pity… ” Lu Ming sighed.

The entire world collapsed with a deafening bang and the illusion before him vanished instantly.

Back to reality. As expected, the card in the machine was already destroyed.

It was just that, the moment he returned, Lu Ming vaguely saw a ray of black light flashing in his body.

How could that be possible?!

Lu Ming immediately looked into his body and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

At the deeper part of the Sea of Consciousness, the place where the Original Card was stored, there was actually a black creature! Obviously, it was the one that he saw in the illusion earlier.

It… actually came out!

It… was actually alive!

“Damn.”

Lu Ming’s scalp felt numb.

The Sea of Consciousness was the most important place for a Card Creator. It was even the foundation for all cultivators. Almost all of the energy cores were held there!

Once something went wrong with it, one would definitely die!

To hell with it!

This was not a Small Yellow Card at all!

Lu Ming’s hands trembled slightly.

He knew that he had encountered the biggest crisis in history.

Whoosh!

Thoughts flashed in his mind.

Lu Ming used his thoughts and appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

This place was actually very shabby. After all, Lu Ming was only a one-star Card Creator. He did not know how to cultivate the Sea of Consciousness. It only stored the Original Card. Hence, this was just a small space that was not even bigger than a typical bedroom.

It was very small.

But now…

There was one more mysterious creature here. It seemed to be deep asleep. It had even brought that soft mat under its body with it!

“Hell… what kind of creature is this?”

Lu Ming was very nervous.

As the creature had changed its position, he could see it more clearly this time.

Therefore, he carefully stood there and observed this creature for a long time. Thereafter, he came to a very important conclusion.

Although it looked so elegant…

Although it looked so perfect….

This thing!

Was still… A cat!!!

It looked a lot like a long-haired cat with a slightly bigger body. Although the hairs on its body were full of texture and were extraordinary… Although it was more breathtaking than all the cats that Lu Ming had seen before…

It was still a cat.

A black cat!

“So, I have a cat in my body now?”

Lu Ming’s head was aching.

He really could not figure out how a creature in the illusion could move around?

Especially…

A replicated creature from an Illusion Card!

Does your original body know that you are so naughty?

Lu Ming approached it carefully but that creature continued to nest on the mat, sleeping soundly. It did not have any reaction and looked like a dead cat.

Sleeping soundly again?

Some thoughts flashed in Lu Ming’s mind.

Emotionally, he did not feel like interacting with this creature at all. After all, regardless of whether this was a cat, it was scary enough that it could jump out of the illusion!

Basically, this was not an existence that he could provoke!

However, logically, he knew that had to resolve this matter quickly.

If the creature was sleeping soundly, it was most probably very weak. Hence, this was the best opportunity to resolve the problem. Otherwise, when this creature recovered… he might not even know how he died!

Furthermore…

Lu Ming did not want to let a time bomb remain in his body for too long.

It was too dangerous!

“Hello.”

Lu Ming tried to greet it.

There was pin-drop silence in the Sea of Consciousness. He did not receive any response.

Could not communicate in this language?

Lu Ming thought about it.

“Hello?”

“こんにちは?”

“안녕하세요?”

Lu Ming continuously waved in front of it. Yet, it was still very quiet in the Sea of Consciousness.

Well… Lu Ming was silent for a moment. He felt that he was acting like a moron earlier. Hence, he carefully looked at the creature, took a deep breath, and said, “Meow?”

Shush!

That mysterious creature suddenly opened its eyes.

Bang!

At that moment.

Lu Ming felt endless pangs of horror.

Seemingly, he had suddenly awakened an ancient presence. However, he recovered from his senses very quickly. This was just a deception from the mysterious creature in the illusion.

Before his eyes… the mysterious creature was already awake.

The most shocking thing was that its eyes were actually golden, and were filled with authority!

Awake!

Lu Ming’s heart jumped a beat.

His body flickered slightly.

The original state was formed purely by thoughts. At this moment, he was emotionally unstable. Naturally, his body would appear slightly blurred.

Whoosh——

Lu Ming forced himself to calm down and looked at the mysterious creature before him.

Oh, wrong. Black cat.

He had used various languages but to no avail. Only the meowing sound of a cat could awaken it. As such, this was certainly a cat species, right?

In that case…

Lu Ming looked at the black cat in a serious manner. “Meow?”

Black cat: “…”

“Meow, meow, meow?”

Lu Ming thought. Perhaps the tone was incorrect?

Black cat: “…”

“M—eow?” Lu Ming repeated.

The black cat swept a cold stare across Lu Ming’s body. Lu Ming was very familiar with that look. He recalled. Oh, that was the look of ‘Are you an idiot?’

Lu Ming: “… ”

So… Meowing like a cat did not seem to work.

Lu Ming thought about it seriously. He heard that high-level creatures were every intelligent. In that case…

“Can you understand my words?” Lu Ming asked cautiously.

There seemed to be some changes to the look in the black cat’s eyes. Lu Ming glanced in its direction and seemed to understand. Its arrogant eyes were now filled with contempt.

“Alright.” Lu Ming laughed bitterly.

Although there were some mishaps in their first interaction, they could finally communicate now. This black cat did not make any movement. At the very least, it meant that the other party was not those creatures who were full of malice.

Well… It was also possible that it just needed a place to rest!

Right.

Lu Ming thought of this point.

This black cat’s original illusion was already destroyed. Hence, it needed a place to sleep soundly. His illusion was the place for it to rest. Hence, it would certainly not destroy him.

At the very least…

He was safe for the time being.

Next, he would test its limit then… He had to wait for it to destroy him after finishing his sleep… He had to do this when it was at its weakest state… to strike a deal.

“It’s like this… Perhaps you needed a place to sleep soundly and rest. Hence, you picked this place.

I don’t have any ill intentions too. I just hope that my cultivation will not affect you. If you need anything, you can tell me.

I think you may recover faster if someone helps you.

Of course.

If I am in any danger, I also hope that you can help me occasionally.

After all…

If I am dead, you will have to find a new place. Isn’t that so?” Lu Ming said in a serious manner.

The black cat’s cold and aloof eyes finally turned gentle. It could be due to Lu Ming’s good attitude and he did not make any requests that were overboard. The cat actually nodded.

It’s settled!

Lu Ming was elated.

Since he had struck a deal with this black cat. He felt at ease now.

As for the harm and danger…

Hehe.

He was a man who had watched seven hundred episodes of Hokage [1. Hokage, literally meaning: “Fire Shadow”, is a word often used in Naruto Japanese manga series. It is the highest and strongest ninja in Konoha village.] There was a powerful creature in his body that could explode prematurely at any point in time. He was not afraid of death, okay?

It was formidable!

The black cat yawned lazily. Obviously, he wanted Lu Ming to scram as soon as possible.

It was extremely exhausted, okay?

Actually, this Sea of Consciousness was very small. It was only as big as a small bedroom. When the black cat lay in the middle and Lu Ming stood at the side, they were in fact facing each other.

The black cat had obviously forgotten how stunning it was.

So, when it yawned, Lu Ming instinctively thought of the Norwegian Forest cat that had he reared in his previous life. It was also a big cat with golden eyes. Its fur was also very beautiful…

“So alike.” Lu Ming sighed.

Subconsciously, he stroked the hair of the black cat with one of his hands.

Black cat, “??? Meow!!!”

A roar of anger could be heard.

Bang!

A horrible aura emerged again. At that very instance, the black cat rose and a gust of mysterious and ancient energy engulfed the Sea of Consciousness.

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