"Phew!"
When the 300 card points were traded away, Gu Ran felt a sense of loss, as if the wallet that had just begun to fill was already empty again.
Of course, this was just a bit of grumbling that sprang to his mind subconsciously; in fact, he had no regrets at all.
Looking at the newly acquired Red Copper Card "Hundred Card Set," Gu Ran's gaze was resolute. Even if given another chance, he would still make the firm decision to acquire it.
Together with the Void Trading Ground, he now had two Red Copper Quality cards in hand, and there was also a Black Iron Quality "Harvest Master" waiting to be drawn.
With these three cards, Gu Ran believed he could undoubtedly establish a significant advantage early on.
Once an early advantage was secured, the path ahead might not be entirely smooth, but at least it would be fraught with fewer dangers and complications.
For a moment, Gu Ran's heart surged with boundless emotions.
But that was all it was. He quickly regained composure, returning to his usual cool-headedness.
Confidence in the future was certainly a good thing, but overconfidence could lead to arrogance.
Gu Ran wasn't so naive. He was well aware that the world was never short of strong individuals, especially after having seen the attributes of the ferocious man and the elder who had competed with him. That only reaffirmed his awareness.
Both individuals were not only at the same level as he was, but they were also at level 3.
Moreover, the ferocious man's Lifebound Card album had an astonishing 11 card slots, with 6 full cards slotted, all of Azurestone quality – a testament to his fearsome strength.
As for the elder, he appeared even more mysterious. The Eye of Insight could only reveal that his level was also 3, with 7 Lifebound Card slots, and everything else was a question mark, clearly indicating some special concealing ability.
Don't be fooled by the fact that he only had 7 card slots at level 3; this only meant that his initial Lifebound Card album slots numbered 4.
In fact, it was precisely this ever-calm elder, who showed little emotional change, whom Gu Ran found more daunting.
The ferocious man might have many Miracle Cards, but since he had seen through them all, his threat was relatively minor.
The true danger often comes from the mysterious and unknown.
...…
Shaking his head, Gu Ran cleared all these scattered thoughts from his mind and opened up his attributes panel to take a look. Soon, he found a rather awkward point about himself.
Apart from the "Soul Capturing Spirit Eye" ability, almost all of his complete Miracle Cards were of a supportive nature—suitable for use outside of combat, or outright useless in battle.
Realizing this, Gu Ran slapped his forehead, glanced at the card points in his album, and then heaved a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, those who just left brought in some newcomers. The card points are nearing 100 again."
Looking at the 96 card points in the album, he moved into action once more.
But this time, he wasn't wandering aimlessly without a purpose. Considering the fragments in his Lifebound Card album, Gu Ran had two targets.
Bone Armor Shard and Bone Longspear Shard.
He needed two of the former and one of the latter.
With purposeful searching, he soon made a discovery at a stall.
Pointing at the two Bone Armor Shards on the stall, Gu Ran asked calmly.
"Boss, what's the price for two Bone Armor Shards?"
This time, there was no haggling drama, as the stall owner gave a very reasonable price.
"26 card points!"
Gu Ran didn't hesitate with this price and immediately purchased it.
After all, it was a defensive, rare-tier Azurestone Card, and items that saved one's life, well, it's quite normal for their price to be a bit higher than that of offensive items.
Looking at the two Bone Armor Shard pieces in his hand, Gu Ran was somewhat delighted. Together with the three pieces he had in his card album, he had successfully collected 5 fragments, which meant that he could fuse them into a complete "Bone Armor" card whenever he wished.
However, he wasn't in a hurry. After strolling around for about two or three more minutes, he finally spent 9 card points to acquire a "Bone Longspear" fragment.
As soon as he had collected all the fragments of the Bone Longspear, Gu Ran didn't hesitate any longer and immediately began the fusion of the two cards.
A faint ghostly light flashed, and two complete Azurestone cards appeared in his hands.
[Azurestone Card • Bone Armor]
[Quality: Green Stone Two Stars (Rare)]
[Passive: Wear this card and your skin will gain a special protection, reducing the damage from ranged attacks by 15% and from melee attacks by 20% (Note: Passive abilities do not consume card points)]
[Active (Bone Shield): Spend 4 card points to conjure a Bone Shield in front of you to block incoming frontal attacks; shield duration 3s (Cool down time ten minutes)]
...…
[Azurestone Card • Bone Longspear]
[Quality: Green Stone One Star (Common)]
[Passive: Wear this card, and you will be able to summon a bone longspear as your weapon at any time. (Note: Passive abilities do not consume card points)]
[Active (Battle Sweep): Spend 2 card points to perform a high-damage, fan-shaped sweep in the designated direction while wielding the longspear. (Cool down time ten minutes)]
Having confirmed the successful fusion of the two cards in hand, he immediately stored them in the card album in his mind.
At the same time, Gu Ran felt a subtle ghostly light emerge on the surface of his body, as though he were covered by an indefinable defense.
In fact, it was indeed so – this was the passive ability of the Bone Armor. With this layer of protection, it could reduce damage from close-range attacks by 20%, and even ranged attacks would have their damage cut by 15%, making it a very powerful effect.
After inspecting his body for a moment, the light in Gu Ran's hand flashed, and the next second, a silver-white bone longspear appeared in his hand.
This Bone Longspear had a chilling touch, but not the bone-penetrating kind of cold; rather, it felt remarkably comfortable to grip.
After swinging it around a few times, Gu Ran nodded with satisfaction. From this moment on, he finally had a powerful means of attack, no longer limited to using bats or steel rods like before.
As such, one could imagine that the efficiency of killing monsters from now on would greatly increase.
...…
Putting away the Bone Longspear, Gu Ran continued to drift among the various stalls.
Although he had only 61 card points left and couldn't purchase indiscriminately, there were so many different types of card fragments on the stalls that it was worth getting to know them. This way, he would have a target for the next time the trading event was held, right?
Of course, the main reason was that he couldn't leave this place freely at the moment and could only kill time this way out of boredom.
The trading event lasted for twenty-four hours, and to ensure order during the trade period, he absolutely couldn't leave lightly.
Because once he left this space, the ability of the rule controller would automatically become ineffective, meaning he would lose complete control over the trading space. What if chaos erupted during that time?
...…