Feiyun Slope, Duel Monsters Specialty Shop.
When Luya crafted [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] right in front of the customers, everyone was stunned.
The shop instantly filled with lively discussion.
"Wow!"
"He really made it!?"
"This Card Furnace is truly magical—it can actually forge a card of an Adeptus!"
"What kind of principle is this... what is it?!"
"Two completely different materials can produce a Monster Card!"
"And it's even the Adeptus who protects Liyue!"
"This defies science and the common theories of nature!"
"Mr. Zhongli, don't you agree?!"
Some customers, especially those who had once been helped by Xiao, all wanted to buy the [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] card.
"I'll pay one hundred thousand Mora!"
"I'll pay two hundred thousand!"
"Three hundred thousand!!!"
People scrambled to bid, eager to own the [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] Monster Card.
Watching the scene, Zhongli felt a deep surge of emotion.
As the one who had spent the most time with Xiao, he knew that for Xiao, the hardest thing of all was to interact with humans.
For the customers Xiao had protected, this [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] was not just a card—it was a vessel of faith and feeling.
The Adeptus who had silently guarded Liyue for thousands of years could never have imagined he would be met with such popularity.
At this thought, Zhongli couldn't help but feel happy for Xiao.
Luya had expected the [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] card to sell well…
Still, not this well!
And there were even people willing to pay hundreds of thousands of Mora for it…
Luya thought to himself that Liyue certainly had no shortage of the wealthy!
Moreover, for Luya, the cost of producing [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] wasn't very high.
An ordinary Vayuda Turquoise Fragment could be bought for only 5,000 Mora.
The Ghostly Ember was supplied by Hu Tao's Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, essentially at no cost.
He only needed to give Hu Tao some card packs as payment.
Besides…
This [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] would probably only sell well at the start. Liyue might have many wealthy people, but their number was still limited.
And in a single Deck, the same card could only be included in three copies.
Any more would be useless.
Even so, [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] could still earn Luya a great deal of money.
Currently, Luya still had 29 Vayuda Turquoise Fragments and 57 Ghostly Embers.
Each [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] required 3 Ghostly Embers and 1 Vayuda Turquoise Fragment.
That meant he could craft about 19 more of them.
The production time for each card was about half an hour—roughly two cards could be made in an hour.
In a full day, around twenty could be produced.
However, Luya wasn't sure if the success rate was 100%.
Just because he had succeeded the first time didn't guarantee perfection every time.
So, Luya once again placed a set of materials for crafting [Conqueror of Demons – Xiao] into the Card Furnace.
Since each card took half an hour to produce, Luya returned to the counter… and began the day's official business!
At that moment, Xingqiu, who always read quickly, had already finished the manga.
The abrupt cliffhanger in the story left him unbearably restless.
It was as if fiery Pyro Slimes were crawling all over him, sparking an elemental reaction with his own Hydro element—get too close and it would evaporate, too close again and it would melt.
The plot of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga had reached the final draw of Yugi Mutou.
All that remained was to gather "Right Leg of the Forbidden One," "Left Leg of the Forbidden One," "Right Arm of the Forbidden One," "Left Arm of the Forbidden One," and "Exodia the Forbidden One."
Then victory would be his!
The story now hung on whether the final draw would bring "Exodia the Forbidden One."
It was a single draw to decide everything!
Thus, Xingqiu completely abandoned his usual calm, composed demeanor… and leapt about like a startled rabbit, exclaiming again and again:
"Boss!"
"What happens next!?"
"Did Yugi draw [Exodia the Forbidden One] or not?!"
"Ahhhhh!"
"I can't stand this!"
Seeing this, Hu Tao burst into hearty laughter.
"I never thought the normally quiet Second Young Master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild…"
"Would lose his composure over something like this!?"
"This Hall Master simply must see what kind of book is so captivating!"
Besides Xingqiu, other customers had also picked up the manga the moment they entered the shop.
However, they didn't read nearly as fast as he did.
Now they too had reached the end of the current volume…
"Ah! Boss!"
"Hurry and give me the next volume—how can I live without it!"
"Please!"
"Just one more page!"
"Just one page!!!"
"Did they complete [Exodia the Forbidden One] or not!!!"
"I'm desperate!"
"I can't take it anymore… if I can't see it, I might as well die!"
Keqing watched Xingqiu and the other Yu-Gi-Oh! readers and grew curious.
She removed her gloves, tucked them into her small pouch, and picked up a Yu-Gi-Oh! manga volume at the counter.
She began to flip through it.
The moment she opened it, she was struck by the clarity of the printing!
The layout of the text!
The composition of the artwork!
All of it left Keqing astounded.
She had thought Yu-Gi-Oh! was just some light novel from Inazuma's Yae Publishing House, and that Luya was simply selling it as a sideline.
Yae Publishing specialized in so-called "light novels"—light, popular fiction.
Albeit to her surprise…
Flipping through a few pages revealed it was all illustrations!
"This… this isn't a novel at all!?"
"And the printing technology is leagues ahead… The ink is so crisp that compared to other popular books, reading it is an entirely new experience."
Keqing was utterly shocked, her violet eyes glimmering with a faint Electro light as if frozen in place.
"This Duel Monsters Specialty Shop—just how much technology is it hiding!"
"Duel Monster Cards, Monster Cards of the Adepti… and this Duel Stage… Can humans truly accomplish all of this!?"
In just two short days, Keqing felt her worldview had been completely reshaped by Luya.
At the same time, she felt grateful…
Luya's presence strengthened her conviction that the era of human governance in Liyue was coming.
The Geo Archon had protected Liyue for millennia; now it was time for humans to safeguard it themselves.
Keqing's gaze toward Luya grew ever more fervent.
She felt more and more that…
Perhaps… Luya was the very person who could change Liyue!
...
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