At this moment, Director Fu, sitting in his second-floor office, was feeling somewhat irritated.

At the start of this semester, he had encountered a small difficulty at work.

As the association's only office at Xidu University, with only two employees, they had many responsibilities and tasks to manage.

One of those tasks was distributing the monthly stipend to card players.

While the subsidy for individual card players might not seem substantial, the total amount for all ranked players at the university was quite significant.

This money was funded by the association.

At the end of each month, a designated person would deliver it to be stored at the office.

In places like Xidu University, where the student turnover is low, the monthly funding is generally fixed.

For any additional funds, a report must be submitted to apply.

Having worked at the Xidu office for over a decade, Director Fu had never experienced a funding shortage.

Yet, this situation was disrupted a few days ago.

A masked card player, unwilling to disclose any information, came to the office and took a 50,000 stipend.

A 50,000 stipend is a privilege reserved only for players at the King rank.

Previously, there were only two Master-ranked players at Xidu University.

Moreover, the combined monthly subsidy for these two was less than that of the King-ranked player.

The appearance of this King-level player drained the office's reserve fund.

The reserve fund is meant for emergencies.

For instance, at the end of the school year when the number of students completing the ranking contest increases, reserve funds are often needed.

As a large organization, the association emphasizes credibility and reputation and aims to avoid situations where subsidies can't be delivered.

The application to increase regular funds has already been submitted, but the process from headquarters for approval, signing, to funding disbursement takes time, and at best it can be completed by the next cash delivery.

Director Fu wasn't sure if the current funds at the office were sufficient.

After the 50,000 withdrawal, he had calculated that based on the previous month's total subsidy disbursement, the funds were still adequate.

However, he worried that after the summer break, many students might have improved their rank, or the number of students completing the ranking contest this month might exceed expectations.

Compared to the former, the latter would have a larger impact on the reserve funds due to the greater involved amounts.

Fortunately, Director Fu knew this situation wouldn't occur.

Because he had the new office worker conduct a survey yesterday, revealing that few students were collecting money for completing the ranking contest this month.

With fewer people, less money needs to be disbursed.

So, in this regard, he felt quite reassured.

"Director! Director!"

Just then, the office worker suddenly rushed upstairs.

"What is it? Why are you so flustered?"

"Can't you learn to be a bit more composed?"

Director Fu frowned.

...

Li Pu sat waiting on the first floor, feeling somewhat idle.

So he began to closely observe his surroundings.

"Hmm?"

Soon, his gaze was drawn to a poster pasted on the wall.

[Southwest Star Cup, Cube Card Track]

[Inviting card players to participate eagerly]

The eye-catching top two lines stated the theme.

What truly captivated Li Pu was the larger-font third line beneath the title.

[Solo Winner's Prize: 500,000 Crystal Coins]

50,000, a simple phrase, completely seized his attention.

Browsing further down to read the details, he discovered it was a major summoner tournament jointly hosted by several provinces in the southwestern region of the Huazone.

Held once a year, its primary aim was to discover and nurture young talent.

The tournament was divided into practical and cube card tracks; the poster predominantly introduced the cube card track managed by the association.

This track requires participants to be under 22 years of age and not have earned a prize position in previous tournaments.

A prize position refers to reward tiers based on performance.

The lowest reward started at 1,000 Crystal Coins.

"Interesting."

Due to the ranking contest, Li Pu was in a highly confident state regarding cube cards.

He genuinely believed he had a chance to give it a try.

He looked further to see the tournament date, realizing it was just one month away.

"It seems... a bit rushed."

The preparation time being shorter than anticipated made Li Pu feel hesitant.

Perhaps due to the feedback from his summoned creature, resulting in strengthened spiritual power, he noticed his [Card Creation] interval had reduced from the previous 24 hours to 22 hours, significantly improving efficiency.

Having previously accepted Li Fan's 50,000 valued A-grade skill [Imitation], this debt had yet to be settled, and strictly speaking, his [Card Creation] ability was still serving this purpose.

Nonetheless, Li Fan didn't require him to fuse cards daily; he usually gathered a bunch and carefully selected and combined them for preview.

Moreover, Li Fan was quite lenient, not demanding that Li Pu reserve every [Card Creation] opportunity for him.

This gave Li Pu a chance to fuse some cards for himself to expand his card pool.

By discussing it, the next month could probably see a pause in debt repayment.

So if everything goes smoothly, he would have 32 card fusion opportunities next month.

32 exclusive cards, along with the tricky [Substitute Card] skill, would surely lead to a good performance at the Southwest Star Cup.

However, the problem now was that Li Pu felt he didn't have enough initial cards as raw material.

"It seems that a trip to East Wilderness Ridge is urgently needed."

"Once back and reorganized, contact Sister Jiang."

So after some thought, he made a decision.

If Sister Jiang was unavailable, he would have to venture alone to East Wilderness Ridge, as time waits for no one.

Having determined the next step of the plan, he felt more secure.

Li Pu began to ponder how to use the upcoming 56,000 Crystal Coins.

Thump thump thump thump!

Just then, urgent footsteps came from the staircase.

A middle-aged man with a slightly protruding stomach quickly appeared before him.

The office worker from earlier was right behind him.

"Hello student, I'm the person in charge here."

"Surname Fu, you can call me Brother Fu or Director Fu."

Director Fu's smile was exceptionally bright.

(Is our director such a friendly person?)

This situation completely stunned the young office worker.

Moreover, considering their age difference, isn't "Uncle" more appropriate than "Brother"?

However, what surprised him even more was yet to come.

"This is your one-time subsidy for the ranking contest, and it includes your monthly stipend."

"Please count it."

Director Fu pulled from his storage space and directly produced the Crystal Coins.

...

...

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