Zhao Jingqing (8000 LP) vs. Zeng Xu (8000 LP)
Both duelists drew their opening hands of five.
Zhao Jingqing entered Main Phase 1.
She Normal Summoned the lower-level Labrynth monster, Arianna the Labrynth Servant.
Zeng Xu immediately discarded Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate her search.
In response, Zhao Jingqing Special Summoned her in-archetype Second Sister, Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle, from her hand.
Zeng Xu then chained a second hand trap—Maxx "C".
After the chain resolved:
Zeng Xu drew 1 card.
Lady Labrynth was Special Summoned.
Arianna's search was negated.
At this point, Youye was only mildly surprised—surprised that this world's high-level Duelists actually had such strong interaction.
But what happened next became… suspicious.
Zhao Jingqing Set three cards and ended her turn.
Zeng Xu began his turn, Normal Summoned Cyber Dragon Core, and searched a Spell.
Zhao Jingqing immediately flipped Big Welcome Labrynth, summoning Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle, bouncing Arianna back to her hand.
At the same time, her Second Sister, Lady Labrynth, Set Deck Devastation Virus from the Deck.
Lovely Labrynth then activated her on-field effect to destroy a card.
Zhao Jingqing chained her second Set card—
Eradicator Epidemic Virus, tributing Lovely to declare Spells.
Zeng Xu chained his counter trap, Red Reboot, attempting to shut her down.
Zhao Jingqing chained her final Set card—
Solemn Judgment.
The final result:
Eradicator destroyed two Spell Cards from Zeng Xu's hand.
Lovely destroyed another card.
Zeng Xu, completely crushed, ended his turn.
Absolute disadvantage.
Both duelists clearly drew exact tech cards tailored to counter each other.
Cards that were clearly side-deck tech.
You had heard from Wang Cheng and the others that Heaven-Rank Duelists built decks according to the previous life's banlist outside of their primary archetypes—
meaning Solemn Judgment at 2, Red Reboot at 1, etc.
But for both of them to draw these exact cards?
Too unreasonable.
At that moment, Youye finally understood Tian Nan's earlier hint.
His heart tightened slightly.
He turned to Tian Nan:
"How strong is the Heaven-Rank 'Bond' exactly?"
Tian Nan smiled with deeper meaning:
"Let me speak for myself.
Any card I put in my Deck—
If I want to draw it:
– I may miss once.
– I will not miss twice.
– Out of the first 5 cards, I usually get 3 that I want.
For Zeng Xu:
– Out of 3, he gets 1.
– Out of 5, he usually gets 2.
For someone like Zeng Jie, newly ascended to Heaven Rank:
– Every 4 cards, he hits 1."
Over 60% of Heaven-Rank Duelists were King's Path Duelists.
The strong ones made up over 40%.
Youye silently memorized the numbers.
He used to think that once he reached Profound Rank and completed his Rune Stones, he could steamroll.
Apparently not.
Take Zeng Xu as an example.
If Youye thoroughly analyzed his deck and brought hard counters,
opening 5 cards would still give him at least 2 counters almost every time.
Daydreaming about "he can't threaten me" was a delusion.
Even now, whether Wheelchair Tearlaments, Rune Stones, or Sticker Stones—
None of them could handle 2–3 perfect counters in the opening hand.
Fortunately, cards couldn't be forged in this world—
So information warfare still worked.
Conclusion:
He must collect cards faster.
He could not afford to be careless.
Besides Tearlaments, he had to develop multiple transitional decks:
Rune Stones
Horus
Petal Rose Stone (information)
Accel-Elf Lockdown
Natural Horus hybrid
and others.
"What about true King-Rank Duelists?"
You asked after organizing his thoughts.
"No idea."
Tian Nan sighed.
"You can't even find King-Rank Duelists unless they want to be found—except through specific channels.
Right now they might be vacationing somewhere…
Or playing in some Spirit Universe world.
They've transcended mundane society.
No one can command them.
They do whatever they want."
"…That actually sounds pretty cool."
Youye nodded seriously.
Freedom at that level—
That was exactly what he desired.
"Ahem… speaking of which, Youye, do you have time later?
My junior needs help fixing her deck."
Tian Nan asked awkwardly, seeing the Duel near its end.
"Sure.
But let me be upfront—
no free work."
You agreed, but set the rule clearly.
Ning Meng had said, once he hit Profound Rank with two Fountain Runes and his other tools,
even if the opponent drew three counters,
as long as he wasn't bricked,
He could still fight a King's Path Duelist.
"No problem. I'll pay upfront."
Tian Nan handed him a golden card.
Youye looked at it curiously.
Most cards he hadn't collected yet were near-forbidden or truly forbidden in his previous life.
"Oh? Foolish Burial?"
Youye raised his eyebrows.
This was a massive gift.
A pure, unconditional mill-1 spell was priceless.
"I have no choice.
You already own every other card on your list.
This is the only card I have that you don't.
And my junior is the only promising one in my family—
The others are hopeless."
Tian Nan sighed helplessly.
His junior had been stuck at Earth Rank for over a decade.
Lifespan wasn't an issue—Earth Rank Duelists lived over 200 years.
She was only in her early 30s.
But he felt she was on the wrong path.
Her archetype, Mathmech, shouldn't rely solely on Xyz and Synchro—
Maybe another path existed.
He just didn't know how to help.
And as a King's Path Duelist, he couldn't ask Youye earlier.
With their Bond active,
deck-building became a restriction rather than a help.
Too many options, or too few—both were problems.
And most importantly—
If a King's Path expert allowed a Yellow-Rank newbie to correct his deck,
That was too humiliating.
"All right. But you know the rules?"
You asked with a smile.
"I know.
You provide the build and playstyle.
We figure out the rest."
Tian Nan smiled back.
With the build and strategy, he could acquire the necessary archetype cards for his junior—
as long as they weren't completely unheard-of cards.
"Next request." Tian Nan continued.
"From the Inspectorate Bureau.
We hope you will prioritize helping our members with deck optimization.
Payment is up to you—
as long as we can provide it."
"You ran ahead again?
We agreed to compete fairly!"
Zhao Jingqing shouted.
Her Duel had ended—
Zeng Xu was already gone, erased not only from this world…
But from the universe.
"What do you mean by 'ran ahead'?
I wasn't whispering.
I didn't say he could only help us."
Tian Nan looked embarrassed.
"Humph."
Zhao Jingqing snorted coldly.
With her King's Path perception, she heard Tian Nan's "prioritize the Inspectorate" very clearly.
"I won't argue with you."
She turned to Youye.
"You, I represent the Duel Association.
We hope you'll help our members with deck optimization as well.
Payment is simple—
We can provide the cards you want first,
then send you the Duelists needing optimization."
"Of course.
In fact, I planned to give you both a new card list anyway."
Youye smiled.
Payment first, work later—
How could he refuse?
Besides, Rune Stones, Horus, future support, Snake-Eyes—
Everything needed cards.
He wasn't going to hand out just one decklist anymore.
They could all help him expand his card pool.
"A new list…?"
Tian Nan looked at the original-printed card in Youye's hand and felt a pang of regret.
If a new list meant more cards…
Then, giving away Foolish Burial suddenly felt way too expensive.
"Don't worry.
This time is different from before."
"Earlier, I was desperate for cards.
As long as you pay, I will help optimize anyone's deck."
"But now, I'll work with many factions.
Cards will have rankings based on how useful they are to me."
"For example—
Your Foolish Burial is the second-highest tier.
A single card at that tier equals one full optimization and strategy guide."
You explained.
Both Tian Nan and Zhao Jingqing nodded.
Before, Youye charged far too little simply because he didn't know the market value.
Some people got full deck optimization for less than 100,000—
The price of a high-quality mortal bone.
Ridiculous compared to what those optimizations were worth.
This new system made sense.
It also prevented powerful decks from spreading uncontrollably and falling into Dark Duelist hands.
Watching Youye negotiate on equal footing with two King's Path Duelists—
Bai Lingtian and his group were stunned into silence.
Mo Wang and Sun Ce lowered their heads in despair.
Not because Youye was unreasonable—
But their luck was simply bad.
They arrived after the "golden era" of cheap optimization.
Nothing more.
"So how are the Duel Association and the Inspectorate going to handle the Zeng family?"
You finally asked, looking at Zeng Jie.
He had already obtained three of the seven cards—
And he wanted the remaining four.
He wasn't about to let the organizations take them.
"Handle them?"
Zhao Jingqing and Tian Nan blinked.
But both were cunning.
They immediately understood.
Tian Nan laughed:
"They offended you.
Naturally—
The entire Zeng family will be exterminated,
and all their resources given to you."
Zeng Jie, whose ancestor had just been obliterated, stood frozen.
???
Wait—
You're a national-level organization…
and you're a world-level organization…
Must you kiss up to him THIS hard???