The people of Liyue crowded curiously around Hu Tao, who looked supremely confident.
They surrounded her and her pile of booster packs.
"Master Hu, how are you going to build your Deck?!"
"Yeah, tell us!"
Questioned by the crowd, Hu Tao put on the air of a seasoned expert, sitting back in her chair like a master.
The little rascal who had fainted from fright at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon earlier now appeared with a cup of tea, offering it to her:
"Hall Master~ please enjoy some tea!"
Hu Tao patted the boy's head, took the tea, sipped, and began speaking:
"As the shopkeeper said, a Deck must have between 40 and 60 cards."
"So then…"
"This Hall Master will put 1 Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and 59 Kings of the Skull Servants!"
"Each turn, I'll use Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's effect to send two Kings of the Skull Servants to the Graveyard!!!"
"With the King's effect, every Skull Servant or King in the Graveyard boosts its Attack by 1000."
"Which means this Hall Master's King of the Skull Servants will grow by 2000 Attack every turn!"
"With 58 Kings of the Skull Servants, I'll have 58,000 Attack!"
"And then I'll be invincible!"
Her explanation left the ordinary citizens of Liyue dumbstruck.
They began murmuring:
"Whoa, Master Hu's plan actually makes sense!"
"Though something feels off about it. What if she doesn't draw Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?"
"Then she's screwed~"
"I don't get all that she said, but it sounds amazing."
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon only has 3000 Attack—Master Hu's Skull King could reach 58,000!"
"Is Master Hu a genius?!!"
"Still… drawing fifty-nine Kings of the Skull Servants sounds impossible…"
"What's impossible? Master Hu isn't short on money!"
Just as Hu Tao was plotting her 59-King Deck plus one Wangsheng Funeral Parlor,
Luya pulled a Yu-Gi-Oh! Rulebook from the system.
It was the most basic version, without Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link Summons.
The only slightly complex part was Fusion—using an Extra Deck to combine two or more monsters into one. For example: [Curse of Dragon] and [Gaia The Fierce Knight] could be fused into [Gaia the Dragon Champion].
Otherwise, the rules were simple.
Luya handed the Rulebook to Hu Tao, smiling:
"Here, Master Hu—these are the rules of the Duel. There's one in particular that might force you to rebuild your Deck…"
Hu Tao, still sitting smugly as she lectured the crowd, sprang up like a startled zombie.
"What!?"
She snatched the Rulebook.
Right there in Rule #3 it clearly stated:
[No more than 3 copies of the same card are allowed in a Deck!]
Which meant Hu Tao's 58,000 Attack Skull King plan collapsed before it even began.
Abruptly, she quickly bounced back:
"Small matter, small matter!"
"This Hall Master can still use three Skull Servants and three Kings of the Skull Servants! A 5000 Attack Skull King is still the strongest!"
She skimmed the Rulebook briefly, found it a bit convoluted…
So she tossed it to Zhongli.
"Zhongli, you're well-versed in all things!"
"Study this thoroughly."
As the most learned man present, no one objected to Zhongli taking charge of learning the rules.
He nodded and immediately began reading. His expression shifted back and forth as he read, nodding thoughtfully, only pausing in brief confusion.
Meanwhile, Hu Tao continued tearing open packs.
She was determined to build a Deck and prove herself a Duelist by challenging Luya.
"Normal, Normal, Normal, Normal, Rare!"
"Normal, Rare, Rare, Normal, Normal!"
As the ripping of packs echoed, Hu Tao tore through 29 packs.
"Argh! Why no Legends!!! Nothing but Normals and Rares—this Hall Master is furious!"
"Opening packs is exhausting… one more and that's it!"
"This should be enough for a Deck anyway." She deftly tore open another pack and pulled the top card.
"Whoa! Epic!!!"
The cry was even louder than when she pulled a Rare, startling Hu Tao.
Purple light gleamed, making her eyes widen.
Epic-rarity wasn't as rare as Legend, but at least it wasn't another Normal or Rare.
Hu Tao stared intently at the glowing card to see what it was.
The artwork showed a black dragon, shimmering more finely than common cards—though still not quite on par with her Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon] Level 7│DARK│Dragon│2400 ATK / 2000 DEF
[Description: A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.]
Other citizens of Liyue, after having seen her pull a Legend and even the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon still looked formidable, but not as jaw-dropping as before.
With Hu Tao pulling an Epic card, Zhongli, who had just finished reading the Rulebook, looked up at her.
"Congratulations, Hall Master, on obtaining another powerful card."
Hu Tao nodded proudly, then opened the remaining four cards of the pack—
All were basic Normals.
Adding Red-Eyes Black Dragon into her Deck, Hu Tao's eyes sparkled as she turned to Zhongli:
"Zhongli!"
"Watch closely and see this Hall Master's strength!"
"But since you've learned the rules, you'd better give me some strategy advice too."
With her Deck complete, Hu Tao couldn't wait any longer. She ran up to the Duel Stage, shouting excitedly at Luya:
"Let's Duel!!!"
...
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