Yes.
My fourth mission is to defeat a Heaven-rank Duelist who has stepped onto the King's Road.
You, Ye, nodded.
Just moments ago, the Rules had notified him that he had completed three tasks:
First place in Master Duel.
First place in the National Tournament.
A random mission—coincidentally, one of which was forcing Dreamlight Void God to leave the Human World.
He had unintentionally completed it.
Now, the Rules had issued a fourth task:
Defeat a King's Road-level Duelist from the Nangong Family.
Naturally, this kind of "kill-steal opportunity"—
He had no intention of letting it slip.
The room fell silent.
Li Yuan.
Xiao Bi.
The tournament official.
All of them vaguely remembered—
When they were Earth-rank, one of their missions had been to defeat an outdated Heaven-rank Duelist.
But this?
A King's Road Duelist?
The gap between those two was astronomical.
And yet—
After recalling You Ye's strength—
They convinced themselves.
Because You Ye truly did have that level of power.
Li Yuan exhaled slowly.
"So, you're fixed Earth-rank mission for the National Tournament…"
"Let me guess—First Place?"
"Yes."
You, Ye, nodded calmly.
Li Yuan: "…"
He didn't even know how to respond anymore.
When he had been King-rank, his requirement had only been Top 16.
And the Top 16 was extremely difficult.
Most Earth-rank Duelists couldn't even make Top 64.
Yet You Ye—
Crushed the entire National Tournament.
Used a different deck every round.
Won it all.
The gold content of that achievement was absurd.
It might never be replicated.
Evening — Nangong Family Estate
You, Ye, and Li Yuan stood at the front.
Behind them:
Ten King's Road Duelists from the Duel Association.
One hundred Heaven-rank Duelists.
Opposite them:
Two King's Road Duelists of the Nangong Family—
An old man and a middle-aged man.
Behind them:
Thirteen Heaven-rank Duelists.
Then hundreds of Earth-rank and below.
The old man forced a bitter smile.
"King Li Yuan… is there truly no room for mercy?"
"For thousands of years, the Nangong Family has obeyed every assignment from the Duel Association."
"Does that earn us no favor?"
Li Yuan's expression was cold.
"The Association remembers your contributions."
"So your destruction will be recorded as sacrifice against the Aberrations."
"And tell us the other family."
The message was clear.
There would be no mercy.
The old man turned to glare at You Ye.
"He hasn't even joined your Association."
"He's that important?"
Li Yuan replied calmly:
"You have contributed much."
"But what he did this morning…"
"Exceeds your family's contributions across thousands of years."
Shock rippled across Nangong's side.
Li Yuan was not exaggerating.
If Dreamlight Void God had rampaged under Rule favoritism—
The damage would have surpassed anything the Nangong Family had ever offered.
You Ye stepped forward.
"You want a chance at survival, right?"
"Yes."
"Very simple."
"One of you duels me."
"If I lose—Earth-rank and below live."
"If I win, you give me the Star Knight field."
The old man and the middle-aged man exchanged glances.
Relief flashed across their eyes.
Win against You Ye?
They were King's Road Duelists.
They had fixed draws.
Two guaranteed desired cards in the opening five.
Against an Earth-rank?
Even if he had Tearlaments—
Two dedicated counters could shut him down completely.
"You're very confident."
You Ye, smiled faintly.
He wasn't even planning to use Tearlaments.
He had prepared something else.
"I choose him."
He pointed at the middle-aged man.
"Nangong Ping."
The old man—Nangong Fei—smiled subtly.
Compared to him—
Nangong Ping was stronger.
And had prepared specific anti-Tearlaments tech.
"You Ye vs Nangong Ping."
8000 LP each.
Nangong Ping chose to go first.
Turn 1 — Nangong Ping
He set one card.
Then activated:
Royal Decree Temple (Temple of the Kings).
"You may activate a Trap when it's set."
He grinned wickedly.
Then flipped his set card:
Fusion Prohibition Zone.
"Neither player can Fusion Summon."
You, Ye, stared.
"You used two fixed draws for this?"
"If I don't draw them—I win anyway!"
"You think your Runick field can beat me?"
"I've prepared for that too!"
Li Yuan frowned.
Without Fusion—
Tearlaments lost explosive consistency.
Still strong.
But manageable.
You Ye, smiled.
"Continue."
Nangong Ping revealed Horus engine tech.
He dumped cards.
Summoned.
Xyz Summoned.
No.90 Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord.
Three-step protection.
Then continued.
Orcust combo.
Galatea.
Dingirsu.
I:P Masquerena.
Final board:
I:P Masquerena
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord
Dingirsu layered
Continuous trap setup
At least three interruptions.
Possibly four.
He ended the turn confidently.
Turn 2 — You Ye
You Ye drew.
He activated Infinite Impermanence, targeting I: P.
Nangong Ping mocked:
"Too late. Your bond is weak."
You Ye ignored him.
"My Main Phase."
He looked at his hand.
Then calmly declared:
"I Normal Summon Maxx 'C'."
Silence.
Nangong Ping blinked.
"…You Normal Summoned it?"
Then burst into laughter.
"You're the National Champion?"
"You solved the Dreamlight Void crisis?"
"And now you Normal Summon Maxx 'C'?"
"What is this? A dignity swing before losing?"
The ridicule echoed across the burning dimension.
But You Ye only smiled faintly.
Because—
The real duel was just beginning.