Yuan Youxin was dumbfounded the moment he saw Shen Sui.

"You're at the fifth stage?"

The two of them almost asked simultaneously.

"Why can't I be at the fifth stage?"

They both answered nearly at the same time.

Then they fell into an awkward silence.

Shen Sui remembered, Yuan Youxin had only been in the profession for a short time, right? The last time he saw him in the news was when his Cyan Seal Summoning Order was banned, and at that time, he was crying out in various grievances. How did he quickly end up in the B-class competition arena?

Seeing Yuan Youxin at the Modu Duel Tournament qualifiers indicated that Yuan Youxin was at least a fifth-stage Life Card Master now.

Shen Sui couldn't comprehend Yuan Youxin's strange advancement speed.

In Yuan Youxin's eyes, it was a similar situation with Shen Sui.

The last time he dueled Shen Sui in the Amateur Cup Finals, Shen Sui was just a newly enrolled Duel Academy student. How did he appear in events that required at least a fifth-stage Life Card Master?

But....

Since they met, it's time to erase past shame!

Yuan Youxin's eyes instantly became firm as he stared at Shen Sui, filled with fighting spirit.

The last duel was lost because he was too stubborn, entering Shen Sui's Sinful Saintess · Anna without rational thought. If he had been steady and cautious, he would never have lost to Shen Sui.

"At this stage, it seems like you won five matches in the Ranking Tournament and defeated a fifth-stage Life Card Master." However, Yuan Youxin also knew that times have changed. The fact that the opponent could stand before him meant they had the ability to defeat a fifth-stage Life Card Master. But if he could stand on this stage, why would he retreat?

If you're going to be professional, give it your all and never back down.

Yuan Youxin knew that when he chose to step onto the professional stage, it was a path with no return. Once he retreated, those watching would use every mocking word to drag him into the Abyss.

There were three or four minutes until the official match, and the referee asked both sides to review their decks once more.

Of course, during this process, the Life Card Master cannot replace any card in the deck, preventing anyone from adjusting their deck against their opponent after encountering them.

Yuan Youxin took this time to browse his phone.

"Did the promotion system change?" Shen Sui took this opportunity to ask curiously.

Although Yuan Youxin had lost to Shen Sui, it was just a duel without deep enmity. Hearing Shen Sui's inquiry, he replied amicably, "It was just revised recently after the Soul Card Exploration Bureau adopted the professional certification system."

After the You Family cheating scandal, Huaxia's entire Life Card professional system underwent a massive change. Although the issues are deep-rooted, at least the Bureau set a good precedent.

In the Bureau's recent rule revisions, the Promotion Tournament added a skip-tier rule. When a Life Card Master is on a winning streak before the Promotion Tournament, they can apply to the Bureau to skip tiers. With the Bureau's consent, they can start a Skip-Tier Tournament after passing the Promotion Tournament.

Originally, the Bureau planned to open a Skip-Tier Tournament directly to the ninth stage, but Life Card Masters of higher tiers reacted strongly. Everyone knew it was because the Bureau threatened the interests of the dueling families, but the loud protest made the Bureau very passive, ultimately setting the rule at a maximum of three tiers in the revised regulation.

Yuan Youxin applied for the Skip-Tier during the Promotion Tournament from the second to the third stage, jumping directly to the fifth stage.

In that time, he desperately participated in matches, accumulating points, traveling daily to competitions, even attending five different matches in three cities in one day.

It was this relentless effort that allowed Yuan Youxin to escape the C-class competition's quagmire in such a short time.

And because of that, he didn't keep up with the latest news and didn't know about Shen Sui defeating Xu Tianzhi in the Ranking Tournament.

But even if he had known, Yuan Youxin wouldn't have wavered. A true Duelist never backs down because of a strong opponent.

"Modu Duel Tournament, qualifiers, number twenty-three versus twenty-four." Five minutes later, the referee started the qualifier on time, "The duel follows the tournament rules, both sides start with a Life Value of 6000, initial Soul Points of 16. Duel start!"

With the referee's call, Shen Sui and Yuan Youxin almost simultaneously activated their Dueling Devices.

"My turn first!" Yuan Youxin shouted, successfully getting the first move opportunity.

Whoa, so it really depends on shouting?

While Yuan Youxin's mouth was quicker, Shen Sui looked at the turn feature card on Yuan Youxin's field and mentally complained.

"This time, I won't underestimate you, kid!" Yuan Youxin glanced at his hand, full of confidence, "Let me show you the Cyan Seal Card Set at full power!"

"Pay 5 Soul Points! Activate from my hand, Spell Card Sect's Rescue Letter." Yuan Youxin drew a Life Card from his hand.

This card was prepared to replace the Cyan Seal Summoning Order. Given his background and his notorious reputation from "fishing" in amateur competitions, he knew that once he stepped into the professional arena, the Cyan Seal Summoning Order would be banned. Every Life Card Master knew the strength of a card that unconditionally summoned five Follower Cards.

His cries were merely for sympathy.

But if he really wasn't prepared at all, then it would be truly pitiful.

"Once per turn, reveal a Cyan Seal Spell Card from my hand. Thereafter, I can summon up to two Cyan Seal followers from my deck. The sum of levels of these summoned Cyan Seal followers must not exceed the level of the revealed Spell Card."

As the words fell, Yuan Youxin sensed something was off.

Because he noticed that the card he activated had a strange timing.

This timing was not from any of his cards in hand.

The only possibility was that Shen Sui had a hand trap capable of activating during the opponent's turn.

So, what could this hand trap be?

Yuan Youxin had only dueled Shen Sui once, and hadn't paid much attention to his matters since. But coincidentally, he happened to know one of Shen Sui's hand trap effects.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Yuan Youxin's forehead.

No...

Please don't play like this?

How could there be two consecutive duels, facing the same person, and encountering the same hand trap during the first turn's aggressive play each time?

In Life Card Duel, Life Cards are forced to be unique. You can have cards with similar text, like Xu Tianzhi having several Mechanical Tyrants, but their names are completely different, being different followers.

"At this moment." However, Shen Sui's words mercilessly shattered Yuan Youxin's wishful thinking.

"Activate from my hand, Follower Card Sinful Saintess · Anna's effect."

"When the opponent activates an effect pertaining to special summoning or searching, I can discard Sinful Saintess · Anna from my hand to negate that effect and send the card to the graveyard."

I have no idea what's going on, but I always start by discarding a Sinful Saintess.

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