I tune the Level 6 Swordsoul Strategist — Longyuan with my Level 4 Token to Synchro Summon!
Level 10 — Swordsoul Grandmaster — Chengying!
"The effect of Longyuan activates! When this card is sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, it deals 1200 damage to your opponent's LP!"
Sheng Ning LP: 8000 → 6800
With Chengying's arrival, Sheng Ning didn't care much about the lost LP. Her gaze locked firmly on the monster.
A Level 10 Synchro, terminal boss of the Swordsoul archetype, with only 3000 ATK — and it dared to stand in attack position against her Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem, a 4500 ATK powerhouse?
Unless it had a ridiculous effect, that kind of confidence was impossible.
Just as she was pondering its ability, Bai Yun'er gasped in awe beside them.
"Senior, Longyuan actually had that hidden effect?! I never knew that!"
You Ye fell silent.
A Synchro deck user who didn't know Longyuan's burn effect?
The card's most basic effect, being called "hidden," was… honestly tragic.
Then, as if to double down, Bai Yun'er added:
"But, Senior, summoning Chengying is useless here! You don't have any Bystial monsters in hand, so you can't banish cards yourself to trigger Chengying's banish effect.
You can't clear her boss this turn — Chengying's protection only stops effect destruction, not battle destruction."
"You really shouldn't play Swordsoul like that, Xiao Bai," You Ye sighed, shaking his head.
"If the Swordsoul spirits heard you, they'd cry."
He could understand her unfamiliarity with the Tenyi engine, but not knowing her own archetype's core mechanics? That was unbelievable.
Did she spend all her time trying to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon instead of reading her cards?
Sheng Ning quietly noted every word Bai Yun'er said and finally relaxed a bit.
Triggered banish effects, no protection from battle destruction—against her Ancient Gears, that meant an easy win.
"Watch carefully."
You Ye said calmly, reminding Bai Yun'er, and continued his play.
"I activate the Spell Swordsoul Emergence from my hand. It lets me add one 'Swordsoul' monster from my Deck to my hand.
I add Swordsoul of Taia!"
"I Normal Summon Taia, and activate its effect — by banishing a 'Swordsoul' card or a Wyrm monster from the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Token.
I banish Longyuan from my Graveyard to Special Summon a 'Swordsoul Token.'"
"When a card is banished, Chengying's effect activates — without targeting, I banish one card from your field and one from your Graveyard!
I banish your Ancient Gear Golem in the Graveyard, and the Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem on your field!"
"Because they were banished, their destruction effects can't activate.
And since three cards are now banished, Chengying's ATK and DEF each increase by 300, while all of your monsters lose 300!"
Sheng Ning: "…"
Just moments ago, she'd felt certain of victory — and now, her massive 4500 ATK boss monster was gone.
Just like that.
And You Ye wasn't even done; that removal was incidental.
He was still calmly setting up further plays!
In all her time at the Enforcement Bureau, she'd never seen anything like it.
Bai Yun'er: "???"
Swordsoul was this strong?!
Why didn't she know?!
Just this one combo — it might not beat a Heavenly-tier duelist, but Earth-tier and even Profound-tier duelists would be crushed!
When she got back, no — the moment this duel ended — she was going to beg the Swordsoul spirits for guidance!
Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Sorry, from today on, I don't know that card anymore!
When she got home, she'd cut Blue-Eyes White Dragon from her deck completely.
A mere normal monster was nothing compared to the majestic Swordsoul Grandmaster — Chengying!
"I tune my Level 4 Swordsoul of Taia with my Level 4 Token to Synchro Summon!
Level 8 — Swordsoul Grandmaster — Chixiao!"
"Chixiao's effect activates on Summon — I can add or banish one 'Swordsoul' card from my Deck.
Chain 2 — Taia's effect, since it was sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, lets me send a 'Swordsoul' or Wyrm monster from Deck to Graveyard."
"Following chain order — Chain 2 resolves first: I send Tenyi Spirit — Adhara to the Graveyard.
Then Chain 1: I add Swordsoul Sacred Summit to my hand."
"Normally, I could extend the combo differently, but this is already enough to end the duel," You Ye said with an easy smile.
"No need to waste time on overextension."
"Wait, Senior!" Bai Yun'er exclaimed.
"Sheng-jie still has that 1300 ATK monster on her field. Your total attack power is only 7200 — you can't deal all 6800 damage this turn!"
Sheng Ning frowned as well.
She didn't understand what trick You Ye was about to pull.
"It's simple," he said. "My next move removes her last monster — and gives my Tenyi cards a bit more screen time."
He continued his play.
"The effect of Tenyi Spirit — Adhara in the Graveyard!
If I control a face-up non-Effect Monster, I can banish this card, then target one monster your opponent controls — return it to the hand.
I target your Ancient Gear Wyvern!"
As the card effect resolved, Bai Yun'er's jaw dropped.
A field she could never break — You Ye dismantled it like it was nothing. Effortlessly.
And he still had resources left to keep going!
For the first time in her life, she felt what a "difference in dual understanding" really meant.
Sheng Ning was silent, her mind racing.
Who was You Ye?
This made no sense.
The way he dismantled her field while explaining calmly to Bai Yun'er… the precision of every play, the seamless sequence — it was as if he had foreseen every step she would take.
Swordsoul, appearing for the first time.
Tenyi, long considered a "weak archetype."
How could combining them make something this powerful?
It was impossible. Completely unreasonable.
"Well?" You Ye asked, smiling at the two women whose eyes were wide and jaws slack.
"Do you acknowledge the strength of Tenyi Swordsoul — and my skill?"
Bai Yun'er didn't hesitate. She whipped out a pink wallet, pulled out a card, and said excitedly:
"I do! I absolutely do! No wonder Senior said this deck could reach Heavenly-tier — even King-tier might not be a dream!
Tenyi Swordsoul is so much stronger than anything I've ever seen!"
"This card is an unregistered bank card — there's one and a half million in it. The password's 123456.
Keep the extra five hundred thousand as payment for your demonstration!"
"Good! Come on over, I'll walk you through the full decklist and card ratios," You Ye said happily as he accepted the card.
"If you don't understand certain combos or want to know how to tech for different opponents, I can help with that too. Prices are negotiable — or we can trade for the cards I need."
As he pocketed the card, You Ye couldn't help smiling to himself.
Sheng Ning had mentioned Bai Yun'er was from the White Dragon Clan of Hangcheng — one of the city's top-tier families, once ranked among the top ten in the nation.
They definitely weren't short on money… or cards.A big client like this — no, a long-term customer — was well worth cultivating.