The Hutton Walking Plaza was bustling with activity, the morning sun making it brighter. The meticulously designed displays in the large department store windows attracted the attention of passersby, filling this Saturday morning with a sense of excitement.

The massive magical screen on the second floor glass curtain wall of the Card Makers Association, originally displaying the association's rotating advertisements, had switched to a pre-broadcast promotion for the Registered Card Maker Exam that would begin shortly.

Families with laughing, energetic children, and couples smiling at each other while enjoying this leisurely weekend strolled through the walking plaza. The outdoor seating areas of the cafes and restaurants were also filled with customers.

Gradually, people began to look up, shifting their gaze from the busy street scene to the association's giant glass screen.

Fifth floor of the Card Makers Association.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see the expansive view of the plaza below.

Lan Qi and Hyperion chatted leisurely.

According to the signs, walking towards the atrium would lead directly to the Registered Card Maker Exam area.

"I feel like I'm in great shape today!"

Lan Qi checked the time. It was almost time to enter the exam hall to wait, so he said goodbye to Hyperion for the time being.

Having just done a good deed and accumulated merit, Lan Qi felt extremely happy, and even felt more confident in his card making.

"...Lan Qi, good luck."

Although Hyperion felt that Lan Qi's fiery state was definitely not good news for Sophia.

But she would wholeheartedly wish Lan Qi well.

Hyperion didn't want to comment on whether Lan Qi would exert all his skill to make cards today, even if it was just for fun.

Well, she was used to it.

Hyperion's mood was very complicated.

She hoped that Lan Qi could pass and get a good ranking, but she also worried that Lan Qi would perform too well, causing Sophia to be unable to bear it later.

But it shouldn't be a big problem.

Hyperion had also learned about the Registered Card Maker Exam process.

Generally speaking, it was already difficult to directly skip the first-level Iron rank and be rated at the second-level Bronze rank.

Candidates had five card-making opportunities, of which at least three must be successful to pass, and they must meet the three different categories of spell card, equipment card, and summoning card.

This was also why the Registered Card Maker Exam was difficult to pass by luck.

On the basis of passing, the association would score the completed magic cards.

The total score of all finished cards was the result.

To reach the initial Bronze rank promotion score, if the three finished cards were all blue, precious quality, the total would be just enough.

Those with this kind of skill already possessed the strength of a Bronze-level card maker.

Going up to the Silver rank was even harder than climbing the sky.

Hyperion had talked to Lan Qi a long time ago and knew that his card-making skills had a high upper limit and a low lower limit. What he lacked most was quality stability. He could only ensure a high success rate when making sealing cards.

As for the [Great Poet of Love] epic card, it was a masterpiece of his teacher, and he himself had never made a pink divine quality card.

Therefore, Hyperion felt that if Lan Qi could perform normally today and make one purple and two white cards, being rated at the Bronze level would be pretty good.

"Then Lan Qi, I should be waiting for you on the third floor later."

Hyperion waved to Lan Qi, signaling him to enter the exam hall quickly.

She planned to go to the third floor to check the situation. If Einol and Sophia were getting along well, she would stay with them and watch the Registered Card Maker Exam through the magical screens on that floor.

"Okay, I'll come find you after the exam."

Lan Qi nodded, then turned and walked towards the exam area.

...

More than ten minutes later.

The spacious atrium hall of the Registered Card Maker Exam.

Natural light streamed into the room through the large rose window design on the dome.

At this time, Lan Qi had passed the admission qualification confirmation and was sitting quietly in the waiting area, waiting for the exam to begin.

Along the walls of the hall stood several giant magical devices, like a group of silent giants, their surfaces reflecting a mysterious and magnificent light in the dim light.

These huge magical engineering components were connected in a winding manner. The cold, icy color of mithril and magic crystals gave a shocking visual impact.

Many external card maker candidates who had seen such large-scale magical equipment for the first time in the waiting area couldn't help but marvel at one of the greatest masterpieces of magical engineering.

However, Lan Qi was already used to it.

The "Artificial Shadow World Activation Terminal" was used in the entrance examination of the Ikryte Academy.

In recent years, the Registered Card Maker Exam has been improved from an ordinary exam hall exam to an artificial shadow world exam.

After the exam begins, candidates will carry a [Portable Card Making Tool] set of magic cards and enter a harmless, single-player, first-order artificial shadow world.

The separated single-player shadow world can ensure that candidates are not affected by any external factors when making cards, and will not interfere with each other. At the same time, the association can also record and evaluate the examination process extremely conveniently.

The entire examination process will not only be transmitted to the headquarters of the Card Makers Association, but will also be broadcast on a small scale on the giant screen on the outer wall of the Ikryte Card Makers Association in the royal capital and on the magic screens on each floor.

Generally, after the card making exam begins, guests who come to the Card Makers Association to handle affairs or conduct transactions will also watch the exam as a pastime.

A small number of citizens in Hutton Walking Plaza will also find a landscape flower box bench or a stone step on the edge of the tree altar to sit down and watch.

This has led to many candidates who are participating for the first time, or even have failed several times, being quite nervous.

Compared to the anxious card makers around him, Lan Qi seemed extraordinarily calm.

His steady temperament made it seem like he wasn't here to make cards at all, but to proctor the exam.

Having participated in two artificial shadow world exams and one real shadow world, his heart was without waves.

Since returning from that dreamlike demon world academy last time, Lan Qi felt that his heart had been taken away by the demon world, and he might never have joy or sorrow in this life again.

Lan Qi waited calmly like this.

From some unknown time, gentle footsteps entered the ears of the waiting candidates from the hall.

This feeling of the examiner entering the arena naturally silenced the exam hall, which was originally slightly noisy.

Lan Qi looked towards the direction where the candidates' eyes converged.

A figure walked in from the side of the hall entrance, wearing a dark suit, with accessories representing the identity of a Registered Card Maker and a senior examiner of the Card Maker Association on the outer pocket and collar.

It was a well-dressed middle-aged man in his forties, with a hint of tiredness in the corners of his eyes.

He strode to the front of the waiting area and looked at the candidates.

There were many young people in the waiting area. These young card makers were almost all students from Ikryte Academy or schools from other cities, such as the Holy Religious Research Association and the Holy Ingenuity Academy, who came to participate in this registration exam.

Although the Hutton Kingdom also had other large cities that could provide Registered Card Maker Exams, the number of test slots was small and the cycle was different. Sometimes, in order to catch up with the exam as soon as possible, many candidates would also take the magical energy rail train to the royal capital Ikryte to take the exam.

Most of the teachers and students of Ikryte Academy did not care about this kind of Registered Card Maker Exam. Only the Magic Engineering Academy usually paid attention to it.

If a student performed particularly well on the Registered Card Maker Exam, the association would notify Professor Boraao, the dean of the Magic Engineering Academy of Ikryte Academy, of the good news.

On each day of the Registered Card Maker Exam, when promising new Magic Engineering Academy students participated, the professors of the Magic Engineering Academy would look forward to hearing good news.

However, it seemed that there were no potential new Magic Engineering Academy students taking the exam today, so the professors of the Magic Engineering Academy probably didn't pay much attention to this exam.

The middle-aged man thought absentmindedly, and then said:

"I am Laurence, the chief examiner today."

Even if the middle-aged man didn't need to introduce himself much, his Gold-level Card Maker status was enough to represent his authority.

"Each of you will enter a single, harmless shadow world, and can freely choose the environment. The maximum exam time is 5 hours. After the exam starts, you have 30 minutes of preparation time to read the specific exam rules and purchase card-making materials."

"The exam will officially begin at nine o'clock and end at two thirty in the afternoon. Also, if you are hungry during the exam, you can also purchase lunch in the artificial shadow world."

After Laurence briefly introduced the process, he embedded a key, glowing with white flaws, into the "Artificial Shadow World Activation Terminal."

Immediately afterwards, the space in front of the magic device seemed to begin to distort, and the color gradually changed from transparent to dark, until it finally appeared completely, and an artificially created void door appeared.

Other Card Maker Association staff began to guide the candidates into the artificial shadow world.

At the same time.

The picture on the glass curtain wall of the entire Ikryte Card Maker Association branch finally turned to the Registered Card Maker Exam!

(End of this chapter)