Chapter 21: Shuanglian, Rising to Fame in a Single Battle (Part 1)

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In the Qiangu Palace rest area, the old coach furrowed his brow, unable to make up his mind.
This player, identified only as 0748, finished the duel in three moves—making it impossible to guess his strategy.
The captain and ace, Qing Ji, said, “I’ll go in, to dampen their momentum.”
“A three-move kill? Probably just a lucky shot,” a blonde woman nearby chuckled.
“Underestimating someone can backfire.”
The blonde was Juliette Anselica Margulis, a high-profile foreign recruit from Fanalia with a hefty appearance fee.
“He’s never had a rationality rate below 80%.”
“Don’t let his wild style fool you—actually—”
She smiled faintly, enchanting and alluring. “He’s very composed.”
“The three-move kill was deliberate.”
“To avoid revealing too much about his deck, I guess he wants to—”
“One, pierce, three?”
The girl’s icy voice dropped, and the atmosphere in the rest area suddenly stiffened.
“Don’t joke around!” Qing Ji shouted angrily. “Pierced three by a numbered player?!”
She couldn’t even imagine if this got out, whether the Qiangu Palace team would still have any dignity.
“I’ll take him down!”
“Yubel should be a zero-attack counter-damage deck; I happen to counter him.”
“I will win!”
Qing Ji declared confidently.
Juliette chuckled lightly, indifferent, then turned her head with interest toward Li Guanqi.
Since the captain and ace had spoken, the coach stopped hesitating and said in a deep voice, “You’re up.”
“Stay calm.”
“We have no intel on their deck; there may be tricks.”
“Watch me take him down.” Qing Ji took a confident step onto the duel platform.
On the red side, Li Guanqi, bored, dismantled his deck to check again.
A deck he could memorize at a glance made his eye twitch.
[Ultimate Pure Yubel]
One hundred percent pure essence, all the staples maxed out, including their mutual friend, [Yubel—the Extremely Sorrowful Dragon].
This thing.
Three copies!
Thanks, truly very sorrowful.
But there was something even more sorrowful.
Only three copies of [Yubel—the Eternal Guardian of Love] in the extra deck, no [Phantom], no [Doomcaller], no [Breaker], nor the versatile [Xiaoye] or tenth-level Xyz monsters.
“How does [Yubel] even play again?”
For a moment, Li Guanqi couldn’t recall the strategy for this deck.
Sorrowful, indeed very sorrowful.

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Fortunately, the opponent’s strength wasn’t high either.
To him, Yu-Gi-Oh! had just four tiers of strength.
Axe King, Dragon Ruler, Gyro, and Tiaral Tears.
The strength at the fourth-level league was roughly between Axe King and Dragon Ruler.
The cards in this world must have a high cost.
Otherwise, in such an important competition, there would be piles of [Malis], [Zoodiac], [Performapal], [Thunder Fire], and [Tiaral Tears]. The card cost restricted the rampant use of these mainstream decks.
[Answer—]
The intelligent referee’s chime caught everyone’s attention.
[Next Player from Qiangu Palace]
[Qing Ji]
“Oh—” The audience erupted instantly.
“Qing Ji’s fans are really enthusiastic,” Hong Mi said. “Come on, just one point left!”
Li Guanqi raised his head slightly, noticing the opponent already standing on the duel platform.
She wore a tight-fitting team uniform, outlining a graceful figure. A lifelike snake tattoo coiled around her left arm, black hair like a waterfall, eyes sharp as blades, exuding a powerful and cold aura.
The captain and ace of Qiangu Palace—Qing Ji.
During the substitution, Jun Qin Dongzhu had given him intel: this woman’s deck was probably [Reptile Fiend].
Extra deck had Synchros but no Links.
“Little brother~” Qing Ji tilted her head slightly, casting a teasing glance. “You’re going to let big sister have all the fun.”
“Don’t worry.” Li Guanqi squinted, curling his lips into a cold sneer.
“Absolutely, I’ll make you feel like you’re in heaven.”
Qing Ji giggled, “Naughty~”
[Both duelists, please select pain level.]
The intelligent referee’s cold announcement cut off their pre-match “flirting.”
Qing Ji hesitated for a moment, then said, “Level 6.”
Li Guanqi was slightly stunned—this woman looked provocative but was actually very calm.
“Level 6.” He echoed.
Neither knew the other’s deck, nor did they hold any grudge, so logically they chose a moderate pain level.
Levels five or six were standard in the league; even if the damage per hit was one hundred thousand, it would be scaled down to ten thousand volts of electric shock. It didn’t consider card intelligence and only caused mild injury, not affecting future matches.
This was a pure duel.
[Please select first or second turn.]
Qing Ji glanced at the prompt, smiling faintly. “I’ll go second.”
Li Guanqi’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Their eyes met in the air.
“Duel!” (X2)
[First turn: Red side]

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[Duel Start]
“Click—”
Both duel disks’ deck slots loosened, ejecting five initial cards.
“My turn.” Li Guanqi scanned his hand, his eyes lighting up.
A bit unexpected.
His deck was packed with over a dozen cards like [Extremely Sorrowful Dragon] and [Undead Interrogation Giant], yet he didn’t draw any in the first two hands?
“[Reptile Fiend]…”
Li Guanqi pondered, somewhat troubled.
[Reptile Fiend] had a very distinctive trait: many effects targeted “zero-attack monsters.”
He never imagined that one day playing [Yubel] would be countered by the [Reptile Fiend] system.
The true [Yubel] deck wasn’t susceptible to counters.
Though called a [Yubel] deck, the endgame usually involved [Rage], [Divine Bow], [Blue Dog], [Phantom], [Super Beast], and other strange cards.
But what he held was pure [Yubel].
After some thought, Li Guanqi picked a card and slapped it down: “Activate continuous spell—[Chronicle of Maturity].”
“Each time a [Yubel] monster or a monster with a [Yubel] card name is special summoned, place one Chronicle counter on this card.”
“Chronicle counter?” Qing Ji frowned, her gaze growing cautious.
Li Guanqi hadn’t used this card in the previous match.
In the league, one could check opponent’s card info by scanning cards, but each team had only three scans; two had already been used.
The last scan, she wanted to check the endgame.
“Activate field spell, [Demon’s Throne],” Li Guanqi placed another card, his actions more practiced.
“Destroy [Yubel Spirit] in the deck.”
“When [Yubel Spirit] is destroyed, special summon [Yubel] from the deck!”
A cold laugh echoed in the air as [Yubel] floated slowly from the summoning circle, wearing a cold sneer.
Chronicle counters: 0 → 1
“Summon [Sacrificial Demon Lotus], release this card to special summon [Yubel Spirit] from the deck!”
Chronicle counters: 1 → 2
“[Yubel Spirit] special summoned successfully, effect activates.”
“Place [Nightmare Agony] onto the field from the deck.”
“Activate continuous spell—” Li Guanqi’s voice suddenly darkened, “—[Nightmare Agony]!”
Countless green poisonous thorns spread around, twitching ominously.
“Counter damage…” Qing Ji’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The memory of Wang Gu’s blade being countered for thirteen thousand damage was too vivid.
The air suddenly turned icy cold; all 40,000 spectators shivered in unison, even the home fans of Biyue Long felt a chill.