"Senior, do you need these cards?"
The moment Sheng Ning heard Youye's astonished voice, she understood. He had found the cards he wanted. Judging by the cards he had mentioned, there were at least seven; as for the ones he had not mentioned, she had no idea how many there were.
"Yes." Youye nodded, then asked, "Can I trade cards for cards?"
While looking through the cards earlier, he had naturally noticed their prices. Even the cheapest, Imperial Colosseum, cost two million, while the most expensive, Solemn Judgment, cost thirty million per copy. A rough estimate put the seven cards at over fifty million. He simply did not have that much money.
"Trade cards for cards? Sure! But they have to be Original Cards. Anything else won't do!"
Sheng Ning answered without hesitation.
Original Cards referred to cards that could communicate with spirits. For example, when the Inspector Bureau claimed they were selling cards to Youye, what they were actually giving him were Original Cards, allowing him to communicate with the card spirits and obtain the cards. Once he obtained them, the Original Cards had to be returned.
"Of course. I have three Original Cards. Their effects are fairly ordinary. If that works, I'll add another two million and trade for the seven cards I just mentioned."
Youye nodded and took three cards with golden borders from his pocket. Naturally, these were Trash Cards he had acquired before receiving the assignment, cards that were useless to him.
"Original Cards!"
Seeing the three golden-bordered cards, Sheng Ning was shocked once again. At the same time, she became certain that Youye was at least Grandmaster Rank.
Because there were only three known ways to obtain Original Cards:
First, reaching Grandmaster Rank or above in Master Duel and receiving cards during the annual rank settlement according to one's rank;
Second, encountering a fieldless spirit and either defeating it or gaining its approval;
Third, inheriting them from an expert or finding lost Original Cards;
The latter two were things only extraordinarily lucky people could encounter. Youye already possessed the privileges of Master Duel, which could only be obtained at Grandmaster Rank. Did that not line up perfectly?
"Forget the money. Three Original Cards and adjusting the deck will be enough!" Once Sheng Ning realized this, she accepted the three Original Cards without even checking what they were and immediately agreed.
"Oh? The effects of these three cards are mediocre. Are you sure?" Youye was somewhat surprised. This was not his first time selling cards, so he naturally knew their value.
"I'm sure." Sheng Ning nodded. She looked at Youye, fell silent for a moment, then slowly asked, "Senior, your true rank in Master Duel... is above Grandmaster, isn't it?"
The instant she spoke, Munin also looked at Youye. She had been wondering ever since the duel ended—how could Youye, who had such a powerful Fearful Abode Wrathful Tribe archetype in Master Duel, be Platinum III?
"Are you evaluating my strength?" Youye asked impassively, though he did not deny Sheng Ning's question.
"No, it's purely personal curiosity." Sheng Ning shook her head, then smiled excitedly. "This is my first time seeing a living King Rank expert. I'm so excited! Senior, could you give me an autograph?"
Youye: ...
"Next time, definitely!"
"Fine! I'll contact the bureau and have the cards delivered as soon as possible!" Sheng Ning looked somewhat dejected, but she did not say anything else. She understood why Youye wanted to hide himself.
If someone who was not even a Yellow-level Duelist was discovered to possess King Rank in Master Duel and use so many archetypes, then there were only two choices: make friends with that person, or destroy them as quickly as possible!
That was the normal way of thinking. If lunatics like Dark Duelists tried to bind Youye with Dark Duels, that would be truly troublesome.
Less than half an hour later, the cards arrived. Youye took them and began communicating with the spirits with practiced ease. In less than ten minutes, he had obtained all the cards—three copies of each.
"No, Senior, you were that fast? Communicating with a single card takes more than a minute on average!"
Seeing Youye obtain all the cards so quickly, Sheng Ning was dumbfounded. Obtaining cards required linking one's consciousness to the spirit through the Original Card and earning the spirit's approval. The stronger the card, the more difficult it was!
It was not as though possessing an Original Card meant one could simply print it out. Cards printed that way could not be used in duels.
Take her, for example. She obtained one card per day on average, and she was already considered a once-in-a-century communication genius within the bureau. Yet what kind of absurd speed was this from Youye?
"Don't say a man is fast. Say it again next time, and the thing I promised you earlier is off!"
Youye's face darkened. Since coming to this world, he was still a virgin and had not even touched a woman, yet someone was already calling him fast. That was rather disrespectful.
"I was just curious. I wanted to learn from you, Senior." Sheng Ning glanced between Youye's legs, her pretty face flushing slightly as she realized she had misspoken.
"You can't learn my method."
"How so?"
"I share my Master Duel rank with the spirits I communicate with. Before I can even state my request, they hand over their cards without another word. This time, only Old Man God and Spore of Growth asked a few more questions. Otherwise, it should have been even faster."
Please stop showing off!
Was that even something a human would say?
Sharing a King Rank... yes, faced with a top-tier Heavenly-level Duelist, how could those spirits refuse?
Leaving aside the other cards Youye communicated with, their entire Hangzhou Inspector Bureau had only one Solemn Judgment. Their Bureau Chief had spent half a month practically begging for it before obtaining a single copy. Spore of Growth was even more outrageous. No one in their Inspector Bureau had obtained that card, and Sheng Ning had even seen a Heavenly-level Duelist specifically come to their bureau to communicate with it. What happened? Spore of Growth had not paid him any attention at all.
And Youye? He had obtained three copies in less than ten minutes. It was ridiculous!
What she did not know was that Youye had shared his main account—Master Duel's number one, along with first place for several consecutive years. Other than Old Man God and Spore of Growth, what other card spirits had ever seen such a sight? After he shared it, they had practically cried and begged Youye to accept their cards.
"Excuse me, is the shop owner here? Oh, Sister Sheng, you're here too?"
At that moment, Bai Yun'er's voice came from outside. Looking in the direction of her voice, Youye noticed that unlike before, Bai Yun'er was accompanied by a middle-aged woman dressed in a maid uniform.
After entering, the woman bowed and greeted him. "Please forgive my presumption, esteemed Senior Youye. I am a servant of the Bai family. My name is Wuping."
After greeting him, she took out a card watch and handed it to Youye, speaking with a kind smile.
"After Miss returned to the family today and told them of what she gained here, the Family Head was deeply moved. The deck you gave our young lady solved a problem the family had been unable to resolve for nearly a year."
At this point, she paused slightly, then continued in a somewhat heavier tone.
"But the payment Miss gave was clearly insufficient. The Family Head is occupied with matters at the moment, so he sent me to thank you in his stead."
This time, however, Youye did not accept it. Instead, an enigmatic smile appeared on his face.
"There's no need to beat around the bush. If you want to test my strength and see whether it's genuine, just say so. As it happens, I finally have a deck now, and I've been looking for someone to duel."
"Thank you for granting me this opportunity, Senior!" Wuping replied with a smile, her manner exceedingly respectful.
Bai Yun'er/Sheng Ning/Munin: ???
The three women were instantly bewildered. What did this mean? When had Wuping said she wanted to duel?
"Do any of you have a Duel Disk?" Youye did not explain. He began preparing for the duel, only to realize something awkward: because he had gone so long without a deck, he had not even bought a Duel Disk since transmigrating to this world.
"If you do not mind, Senior, you may use this." Yet the moment Youye spoke, Wuping seemed to have been prepared. She took out a silver-white bracelet and respectfully handed it to him, then explained, "This is the latest portable Duel Disk independently developed by the Bai family. It is one of the gifts the Family Head specifically designated for you. If you are concerned that it might leak information, you may have the leadership of the Duel Supervision Bureau here inspect it."
Before you continue