But Xiao Shan did not say anything more.
He only assumed You Chen had exaggerated a little. A deck-building speed of around an hour was already incredibly impressive.
Then, he finally revealed his true purpose this time.
"Actually, I called you here because there's something I wanted to tell you."
"I think your deck-building style and ability are both excellent. If you can win this Collegiate League championship, you can be exceptionally admitted directly into Thunder Academy."
"So work a little harder. You might even be able to enter Thunder Academy without taking the College Entrance Exam."
Xiao Shan's invitation was essentially an olive branch.
The Four Great Academies were currently the highest institutions of dueling studies.
They were also the four pillars of the Dragon Nation, having cultivated countless outstanding duelists.
Thus, the Four Great Academies were places countless duelists dreamed of. In the past, wealthy tycoons who wanted to buy their way in had been willing to spend fortunes, but it was useless. The Four Great Academies only recognized results.
After all, they were not private institutions.
They were assessed by the nation's top institutions.
You Chen blinked in surprise at the invitation.
Seriously? Exceptional admission?
This quota was extremely difficult to obtain.
There had been precedents before, though. After all, this world never lacked geniuses.
They were just rare, so You Chen had not expected it.
Could it be that his deck-building had caught Xiao Shan's attention?
Not just him—even the cold-looking young man beside them seemed not to have expected it. His eyes flickered, but he said nothing.
"Then it seems..."
"I now have a reason why I absolutely must win the championship."
You Chen had thought it was no big deal before, but now that he had such a tempting opportunity to enter one of the Four Great Academies through exceptional admission, he naturally intended to fight for it. Though he believed he could get in with his own ability anyway.
Still, exceptional admission just felt different.
He did not have some obsession with having to earn everything himself. If he could get in while lying down, why work hard? That was not his personality to begin with.
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."
"But winning the championship will not be easy. The players from High School One and High School Five are quite strong. I have high hopes for you."
Xiao Shan truly admired You Chen. Talents like him were rare.
Even if You Chen ultimately came in third, he would still grant him exceptional admission.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."
Although You Chen was happy, his delight was nowhere near as exaggerated as Xiao Shan had expected.
He had thought that students like these would surely become fired up and overflowing with passion upon hearing they could enter one of the Four Great Academies, perhaps even becoming so excited that they could barely speak.
But You Chen's reaction far exceeded his expectations.
After You Chen left.
Xiao Shan fell silent. He poured himself a cup of tea and slowly said, "Are you confused?"
"Yes." The young man replied calmly.
"That boy is no simple matter. Don't look down on those decks. The more smoothly such decks operate, the stronger the deck-building mindset required. Meta decks have certain established formulas, but these decks do not."
"Over all these years, when have you ever seen anyone dare to use cards like these so boldly?"
"If you underestimate him, then even as my disciple, you will easily suffer losses in the future."
The young man did not argue, though his gaze remained calm.
"Interesting. The Collegiate League will be followed by the College Entrance Exam just one week later."
"I'm already looking forward to the new academy term and that boy's arrival!"
Xiao Shan took a small sip of tea.
"Teacher, do you think he will definitely win the championship?"
The young man asked calmly.
"He may not necessarily win the championship, but he will definitely place in the top three," Xiao Shan said.
The young man's eyes flickered, revealing a trace of interest in dueling.
That evening, at the Dream Dungeon duel event.
You Chen's duel today was already going to be a tough battle.
His opponent was Mao Tu.
Since You Chen had money now, he spent another seven or eight hundred thousand to put together a Hand Destruction deck.
The ruthless kind.
At least this made it less likely for him to be countered.
After all, having won last time, the reigning champion would be prepared.
So You Chen could not use the mecha again, nor could he use anything else that would expose his identity. Thus, he had made another deck.
He also acquired several Rare Cards from the Needle Worm Chat Group, spending more than two thousand Emotion Value.
As for a prison deck, it was not that he had not considered one.
But there was no need. In the current environment, normal summons were still far more common, while special summons were rare.
"Ladies and gentlemen!! Welcome to the Underground Duel Tournament!"
"Today, we have Night Wanderer, the contestant who won yesterday!"
"And the reigning champion he will challenge today is Mao Tu!"
As soon as those words were spoken.
Out came an adorable-looking girl who appeared underage, with twin ponytails, Gothic attire, and a teddy bear in her arms.
"Damn! Tonight's reigning champion is actually a little girl?"
"This is practically a free win."
"Haha, you don't know her?"
"She was the third-place winner in High School Three's Collegiate League last year."
You Chen naturally heard the discussions below. This was amusing—he had just finished a Collegiate League duel, only to run into last year's Collegiate League third-place winner here.
Since she had been a student last year, did that mean she was no longer one this year?
Otherwise, why would she be appearing in the Dungeon duel event?
"Night Wanderer, big brother, please go easy on me." Mao Tu's voice was incredibly coquettish.
She already had that freshly turned-eighteen vibe.
You Chen got goosebumps the moment he heard it.
He really wanted to slap a talisman on her and shout, "Mighty Heavenly Dragon! Prajna Paramita!"
Die, demon!
You Chen raised his hand and mechanically unfolded his Duel Disk.
This Hand Destruction deck was far more vicious than any of his previous decks.
He believed he would definitely earn plenty of Emotion Value this time.
Whether he could break through thirty thousand Emotion Value depended on you, little sister!
"Little brother, that's so cool. I like you even more now."
"And I'm not that young. I became an adult this year."
Mao Tu seemed to have a pretty good personality and continued teasing You Chen.
"Then you started liking me too early."
"In a moment, you might hate me to the bone."
You Chen shook his head and stopped wasting words.
The moment one used an Underworld Deck, one was destined to be a lone star of misfortune.
Just like Hua Yingxiong.
If he had any friends at all, they could only be people who liked Underworld Decks too, such as Hua Ningning.
"Duel start!! DUEL—"
"Heads. I go first!"
You Chen took one look at the result. Going first, he immediately revealed a smile unlike any before.
"I activate the Magic Card Mischevious Twins from my hand!"
"Pay 1000 Life Points to activate it. My opponent randomly discards one card from their hand, then chooses another card from their hand to discard."
You Chen's very first move was a Forbidden Card that had been banned across all major platforms back then!
One card to destroy two cards from the hand—tell me, are you dead or not?
This card was simply a god-tier card.
And he had not bought it. He had exchanged for it in the Needle Worm Chat Group.
This card was so rare that it cost him one thousand Emotion Value. It was not cheap, but it was absolutely worth it!
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