Bai Yun'er stood frozen, staring at the warrior that had just appeared on You Ye's field—
A figure clad in crimson-black armor, a demonic mask upon his face, a massive red greatsword in hand. He stood tall and immovable, as if a mountain had descended upon the Duel Arena.
It took her half a minute before she slowly clicked open the card's data.
[Swordsoul Grandmaster — Chengying] (Field: Swordsoul)
"S–Senior, my Swordsoul archetype actually has an Extra Deck boss monster!?"
After confirming it several times, Bai Yun'er finally accepted the reality that sent waves crashing through her heart.
This was a Master Duel, regulated entirely by the system itself. Even a King-level Duelist could not interfere with the rules!
In other words, this was real. Her Swordsoul archetype truly possessed a Level 10 Synchro Monster!
As that realization settled in, Bai Yun'er looked at You Ye, her expression now filled with confusion and awe.
Leaving aside the Bystial and Rokket archetypes for now, she was certain that no one had ever obtained a Swordsoul card before this.
So how did You Ye—who clearly wasn't supposed to have access to it—know about Chengying? If he didn't realize its detailed data beforehand, the Master Duel system wouldn't have allowed him to use it.
And this man had already displayed mastery over three different archetypes.
Could he really be a Dijie (Earth-rank) Duelist? Gaining access to even one new archetype was extremely difficult, and the stronger the archetype, the rarer the chance. That was why she had only managed to get Blue-Eyes.
Her curiosity burned, but Bai Yun'er held her tongue.
As a core disciple from a Duelist Family, she knew better than to pry into another's secrets.
"Now," You Ye said, noticing the shift in her eyes and smiling with satisfaction,
"Do you believe what I said earlier?"
In his "Beginner-Dragon-Fist" deck, the Level 10 options included Chengying, Baronne de Fleur, and Baxia—but for showmanship, Chengying was the perfect pick to shock her.
"I believe!" Bai Yun'er answered without hesitation.
Three archetypes… one of which she herself couldn't even access yet—how could she not believe him?
"Good. Then let me explain Chengying's three effects to you."
"First — this card gains ATK and DEF equal to 100 × the number of banished cards, and your opponent's monsters lose the same amount."
"Second — if this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you can banish one card from your GY instead."
"Third — whenever a card is banished, you can activate this effect to banish one card from your opponent's field and one from their GY."
"The first is a continuous effect — you can see it on the field already, no need for me to say more. The second isn't once per turn, which means as long as you have cards in the GY, it's practically indestructible by effects. The third is a hard once per turn, non-targeting, non-selective banish — and it works beautifully against cards that 'cannot be targeted'… ahem, you get the idea."
You gave a simple but thorough explanation.
"Wow, it's so strong! This is the true final boss of my Swordsoul archetype!? I love it!"
Bai Yun'er's eyes sparkled.
Just one banished card was enough for Chengying to surpass her Blue-Eyes White Dragon, with superior resistance and banishing control.
If she could obtain this monster, reaching the Xuan-rank, or even Dijie-rank, would no longer be a dream!
"I know you love it," You Ye chuckled, "but calm down—this is just one of the Thirteen Swords of the Tenyi Swordsoul. Let's finish the duel first."
In this world, duelists rarely surrendered—to them, surrender was a disgrace.
Even if defeat was certain, they fought till the end.
"Okay!" Bai Yun'er nodded seriously, doing her best to suppress her excitement.
Once this duel ended, she could finally get the Tenyi Swordsoul decklist, and if she learned its combos too… she had a strong feeling that, unless she faced this senior again, she'd crush every duelist she met!
"I activate the effect of [Bystial Baldrake] in my hand!" You Ye declared.
"By banishing the DARK 'Magnamhut' from my GY, I Special Summon it!"
"Since a card was banished, Chengying's third effect activates — I banish your set 'Magic Cylinder' and your 'Mo Ye' in the GY!"
Bai Yun'er couldn't stop him—she had no counter left.
Her field and graveyard both lost one card, and Chengying's ATK rose by 200 while her Blue-Eyes lost 200!
Her heartbeat quickened. So this is the beauty of power… this is the might of Chengying!
"I Normal Summon [Rokket Tracer] and enter the Battle Phase!"
"Chengying, attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Chengying ATK: 3400 vs Blue-Eyes ATK: 2600
Blue-Eyes shattered into light, and Bai Yun'er took 800 LP of battle damage!
→ LP: 3200
"Next, Baldrake and Tracer attack directly!"
Baldrake ATK: 2500 + Tracer ATK: 1600 = 4100 Damage!
Her remaining LP was instantly wiped out.
"Senior! I also want to summon Chengying!"
The duel barely ended before Bai Yun'er ran up, grabbing You Ye's left hand with both of hers, eyes full of excitement and pleading.
"If you want to obtain that card," You Ye said calmly, "go apologize properly to the Swordsoul spirits. Once they accept you, you'll gain not only Chengying but the other two native bosses as well."
"You're right, Senior! If I'd only respected the Swordsoul spirits more, I would've realized they're a Synchro-based archetype long ago! I was too arrogant—thinking those high-level Swordsoul monsters were the final forms and abandoning the archetype altogether!"
"Once I get home, I'll apologize to every Swordsoul spirit personally, and show them my sincerity!"
Clenching her fists, Bai Yun'er's eyes were filled with regret and determination.
"Good. A student worth teaching!" You Ye nodded approvingly, then added with a faint smile, "So… now you want to learn the Thirteen Swords of Tenyi, don't you?"
"Please, Senior—I want to learn the Tenyi Swordsoul Thirteen Swords!"
She bowed respectfully, her tone devout.
If Chengying were just one of the Thirteen Swords, how terrifying would the entire set be?
With it, she might surpass all her family's predecessors!
"Excellent. Then pay up first—I'll teach you the decklist of the Thirteen Swords."
You Ye extended his hand and displayed his payment QR code.
"Of course, Senior!" Bai Yun'er immediately pulled out her phone to transfer the payment.
Just then, the door swung open.
A woman in her early twenties, dressed in professional attire, stepped in and grabbed Bai Yun'er's hand before she could pay.
"Wait, young lady—you can't let him trick you."
"My name is Sheng Ning, an investigator from the Duel Oversight Bureau. Before you, several players have already filed complaints about him—saying he gives strange deck-building advice that only works inside this shop, but once they leave, the cards either don't exist or are absurdly expensive."
"He's been scamming new duelists like you with impossible setups."
After speaking, Sheng Ning paused and shot a glance at You Ye, who remained calm and silent, expression utterly unbothered.
Assuming he was just bluffing to keep up appearances, she pressed on:
Let me guess, young lady—he told you to 'fuse' your cards with some rare or bizarre archetype, didn't he?