Tan Song sensed You Wenqi's malice.

"I say, Old You, don't look at me like that, I'm just recovering from a serious illness, okay?" Tan Song was full of survival instinct, directly pleading for mercy.

You Wenqi rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Competing for so many years, with his poor results in the world championships, he's already become a meme galore, one more expression pack makes no difference.

"It's just a training match, and everyone still came?" Just as You Wenqi arrived, Zhang Fang came right after him.

He had hastily come over after dealing with the matters at the Exploration Bureau, not even having time to put down the files in his hand.

"Speaking of which, how come even you, the director, know about us having a training match?" You Wenqi said speechlessly. Logically, this training match shouldn't have been public, right?

Zhang Fang said, "I've long noticed how the two of you exchange glances, guessed you'd be dueling, and here I caught you."

Saying that, Zhang Fang skillfully found a spot to sit down.

Since it's a training match, naturally, there's no dueling projection equipment.

You Wenqi rented a room at the hotel as the dueling venue.

This made Shen Sui very disappointed; he initially suggested conducting it on the rooftop of the hotel.

A duel or something should definitely be done on a rooftop or a vehicle for better flavor.

You Wenqi immediately rejected that proposal.

"I'm afraid of heights." His reason was indisputable.

"No wonder you can't win the championship," Shen Sui casually quipped, "A true Duel King should adapt to all terrains!"

Back to the main topic, seeing Zhang Fang had arrived, You Wenqi could only accept that this training match would be watched by a bunch of old friends.

"If I mess up, I'll lose face completely," You Wenqi said with a smile.

He didn't care whether he would lose to Shen Sui.

If this duel could bring him enough fun, losing didn't really matter.

"Then let's begin." Shen Sui didn't waste any words and directly activated his Dueling Device.

Alice's side could return to Roland City at any time. When the Pope Candidates' match starts, he won't have time to duel, so he naturally wants to enjoy himself during this brief idle time.

"Here we go!"

You Wenqi smiled confidently, also activating his Dueling Device.

The transparent Duel Realm slowly unfolded between them.

The turn card representing the first move began to spin.

"My turn first!"

Shen Sui shouted, drawing a card from his hand.

Still relying on the Spiritual Axis for a rapid and damage-free expansion.

You Wenqi had no hand traps.

Currently, the number of such Follower Cards is already small, and due to the one-per-limit of Follower Cards, stuffing too many followers usable only in hand into the deck is indeed somewhat unsuitable for the environment of Life Card Duels.

With no hand traps to hinder, Shen Sui naturally unfolded smoothly.

By relying on the Spiritual Embracer Alice, Shen Sui's expansion could even be cost-effective.

You Wenqi scrutinized Shen Sui's unfolding process.

To be honest, he felt even the strong Life Card Masters he met in the world championships from various countries weren't as smooth in their expansion as Shen Sui.

However, this setup is probably only playable by Shen Sui.

After all, the effect of the Golden Ship is to keep changing the form of Alice, and if this card's forms weren't so numerous and coverage in star levels wasn't so wide, this expansion chain wouldn't even work.

"My turn ends." Shen Sui ended his turn neatly.

It's his very standard end board:

Three set cards in the back row.

On the front row: Pure White Holy Steed Golden Ship, Gem Merchant Alice, Dragon Conqueror Qishala, Realm-Breaking Elf King Freymia.

Apart from the Golden Ship, the other three followers all have abilities to restrict You Wenqi.

Such an end board, even in the world championships, would be a very strong first-turn lockdown field.

Of course, this is just the optimal solution Shen Sui came up with using the cards in his deck. If possible, he'd still want to completely strip the opponent of the ability to play cards.

For example, in the first-turn make a Follower Card that can skip the opponent's turn.

Unfortunately, Shen Sui doesn't have such a Follower Card at hand.

"Then it's my turn!" You Wenqi wasn't timid at all, drawing a card from his deck.

As the hidden coach of Tianyi Academy, You Wenqi certainly had information on Shen Sui.

Dragon Conqueror Qishala can render effects targeting him and his field ineffective.

And Freymia restricts You Wenqi's deployment, and he can't activate effects of followers with a higher star level than her.

"It's an impressive lockdown, but not comprehensive enough," You Wenqi said to Shen Sui. "My turn, I activate the effect of the Follower Card [Starry Zodiac God: Rapid Rat] from my hand."

He immediately drew a 15-star Follower Card.

Invalidating the effect is not the same as being unable to activate the card.

A burst of light flashed, and Shen Sui's [Gem Merchant Alice] and [Realm-Breaking Elf King Freymia] were sent to the graveyard.

"Send two Followers on the opponent's field and three [Zodiac God] Followers from my deck to the graveyard to activate," You Wenqi declared. "Special summon this Follower to the opponent's field, and at the end of the turn, this Follower will return to the owner's field."

Shen Sui watched as a majestic rat appeared on his own field.

Though it's not a release, it roughly means the same, as it's also paying the cost.

But Shen Sui didn't expect the Life Card Duel to have an effect where you send the opponent's Followers to the graveyard as a cost!

With Alice and Freymia gone, the restrictions on You Wenqi's expansion were lifted.

Darn it! I also have times when my starting hand gets fed to rats!

Shen Sui felt a bit upset inside.

He knew the effect of the Rapid Rat on the field, but he never expected You Wenqi to draw it right from his starting hand.

Isn't this thing limited to one card per deck?

How could he draw it? If You Wenqi hadn't drawn the Rapid Rat, Shen Sui had the confidence to completely lock him down.

Or rather, this endgame was already considered a rather strong ending. Normally, Shen Sui was confident of winning first turn, but encountering the turtle-type Followers really left him helpless.

After all, their method of breaking your field relies on cost, not effect.

In such situations, you need to pull out the ultimate sunshine prohibition of summoning, special summoning, and spell card activation prohibitions, where you cannot even pay the cost.

Indeed, my restrictive endgame still needs some improvement.

Shen Sui pondered slightly dejectedly.

Just as Shen Sui was feeling down, You Wenqi's expansion had already begun.

The expansion of the Zodiac God is the classic leap initiated from the graveyard.

The Rapid Rat immediately set You Wenqi's grave stack into motion, and in no time, these three Follower Cards had already surfaced on You Wenqi's field.

And all of this was thanks to the effect of the Rapid Rat.

In just the blink of an eye, three 15-star Zodiac Gods appeared on You Wenqi's field.

Starry Zodiac God, as the name suggests, are naturally the twelve terminal cards.

You Wenqi had already collected nine of them, and now he had summoned four—including the Rapid Rat on Shen Sui's field.

A first attack turn, summoning four 15-star leaders, is this the gold content of the Zodiac God Card Set?

Shen Sui, although anticipating this, still asked curiously as he watched You Wenqi destroy his field and then make such a field:

"How did this deck lose in the World Championship finals?"

This question made You Wenqi quite embarrassed.

He coughed twice and said, "I got a dead hand."

"I remember some World Championship finals are BO3, best of three, right?" Shen Sui doubted.

"I got a dead hand all three games."

"..."

"Uh, don't get me wrong," You Wenqi was also quite frustrated, "Actually, my deck should very rarely get a dead hand, but somehow that one possibility always appears."

"This is already my strongest endgame," You Wenqi invited Shen Sui, "I see you look so calm, have you already found a solution? Then try to solve it, if you have the next turn."

"Of course!" Shen Sui decisively opened the set card.

The Followers on You Wenqi's field can block the back field during the battle phase, so Shen Sui could only open the set card during his main phase.

[Disguised Infiltration].

Switch Qishala's form to Star Abyss White Dragon.

If in doubt, stall for a while.

"Bring it on if you dare!"

Shen Sui's intention was very clear.

The Star Abyss White Dragon can not only attack but also defend.

No matter how formidable your 15-star leaders are, they're all little brothers compared to the Star Abyss White Dragon.

With a 14-star stature and 6000 fixed Spirit Value, anyone who understands this stature knows its worth.

A 15-star Follower theoretically maxes out its Spirit Value at just 6000 points.

However, generally for Followers of this star level, their Spirit Value increases through effects, so their Spirit Value bar is either 0 or ?, making them seem flimsy against Qishala in Star Abyss White Dragon form.

Of course, that's the extent of it; Shen Sui couldn't activate Thunder Element Empress to force the opponent to attack, so You Wenqi just needed to choose not to attack.

"Qiu Yuehu." To Shen Sui's surprise, You Wenqi declared an attack, "Attack Star Abyss White Dragon."

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