Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2762: Devil Worshiper

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Zhongguo (China), Liaodong Province, Shuntian Prefecture, Shenyang City, Imperial Palace, Inner Court

”Captain Mo Ming... what is the meaning of this?” the First Imperial Guard Captain Min Cheng demanded.

He and Mo Ming belonged to the same generation of guards. They had fought side by side for so many years that their bond had long since surpassed ordinary comradeship. In many ways, they were closer to brothers than fellow soldiers.

Being four years older, he had always seen himself as the elder between them. It was a role he had quietly accepted over the years, believing it was his responsibility to guide Mo Ming when needed and pull him back whenever he strayed too close to crossing the line.

Now, standing in the stunned silence of the hall, he desperately waited for an answer. He hoped, more than anything, that Mo Ming would say this had all been a plan. That pretending to betray the Emperor and kneel before the exiled princess had only been a ruse to get close enough to assassinate her.

It didn’t even have to be the truth. It only needed to sound convincing. If Mo Ming gave him even the smallest thread to grasp, he was ready to seize it. He would risk everything, even his own life, to defend his brother before the throne and beg the Emperor for mercy on his behalf.

Unlike everyone else in the hall, he didn’t seem to care about the Dragon Dicing Saber but more about his brother in arms.

Mo Ming glanced at Min Cheng. For the first time since the chaos began, the indifferent and unapologetic expression on his face cracked slightly. A faint trace of guilt surfaced in his eyes.

His life no longer belonged to him. It belonged to his master now. But severing old bonds was never easy, especially ones forged and tempered through decades of battles and service. Men who had fought back to back for half their lives did not simply become strangers overnight.

Mo Ming understood that. Just as his lips parted to answer Min Cheng, something unexpected happened. The body of Corey the Second, which had appeared lifeless in his arms moments ago, suddenly stirred. She drew in a deep, sharp breath. The sound cut through the silent hall like thunder, shocking everyone present.

Having returned from the dead, Corey slowly began testing her control over the body. She flexed her fingers first, watching them curl and uncurl as if confirming they responded to her will. Then she rolled her shoulders and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling the balance of the body beneath her.

At the same time, she sifted through the memories settling inside her mind, calmly sorting through the flood of experiences that had come with the transformation. Once she seemed satisfied, she casually stretched her arms above her head, joints cracking faintly as the movement loosened the stiffness in her muscles.

The entire hall watched in stunned silence. No one could comprehend what they were witnessing. Only moments earlier, she had been killed by the Dragon Dicing Saber, the deadliest weapon in the empire, with everyone in the room watching it pierce straight through her heart. Yet now she stood there as if nothing had happened, calmly checking her body and even doing stretching exercises.

Meanwhile, as Coryn stood there alive once more, another change began to unfold. Mo Ming’s body started to transform.

The gray in his hair slowly faded, strand by strand, until it returned to a deep black. The wrinkles carved into his face softened, his skin tightening as the years seemed to peel away from him. Even the stiffness in his posture disappeared as his body straightened.

Within moments, the old captain no longer looked like a weathered veteran. He looked like a man in his mid-twenties, perhaps just entering his thirties.

Now that his master had returned to life, the bond of familiarity reasserted itself. The eternal youth he had been promised for serving her had finally taken effect.

Min Cheng watched the transformation closely. His eyes narrowed as the last of his doubts vanished. He had his answer, his brother in arms was beyond help.

Across the vast hall filled with stunned nobles, guards, and imperial descendants, the first person to break the silence was the Emperor himself. Slowly, he rose from his throne. Looking directly at the woman standing in the center of the hall, he spoke calmly, facing some of his strongest martial artists his empire had to offer, he said, ”Congratulations, Corey. Welcome back from the dead.”

The Emperor’s words immediately captured the attention of everyone in the hall. Every gaze turned toward him, including Coryn’s and that of her familiar. Coryn met the Emperor’s eyes directly. For a moment she said nothing. Then she tilted her head slightly and sniffed the air as if testing a strange scent lingering in the room.

Her expression twisted with open disgust, as she replied to the Emperor pointedly, ”Long time no see, dipshit. I never thought the man hailed by hundreds of millions as the Mandate of Heaven would end up worshipping devils.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued, voice dripping with contempt, ”What happened? Did you catch something nasty you pedo? Or did your evil finally come back to bite you?”

The insult had barely left her mouth when the imperial guards reacted. Several moved to step forward, ready to strike her down for disrespecting the Emperor in his own court. But none of them managed to take a single step.

A terrifying mental field had already expanded across the hall. It pressed against their own mental fields like an invisible mountain. Their defenses did not shatter, but their bodies refused to move, pinned in place by overwhelming pressure.

The killing intent woven into that mental field was suffocating. Just sensing it made their minds tremble. Thoughts became sluggish, their breathing heavy, and even forming words felt impossible. Compared to the force they had clashed with earlier, this was on an entirely different level. It was like they were facing an entirely different person.