Want to play cards? I'll use my King's Deck!

Saki didn't intend to argue with Kaiba Mashiro about something so childish, and continued, "Well then, Miss, we should go. If we stay any longer, Lord Aoto might get angry."

"Ugh...I know."

Saki immediately brought up Kaiba Aoto's name, causing Kaiba Mashiro's face to stiffen. She realized that she couldn't really stay until night to go back.

Otherwise, when we get back to our own house, I don't know what kind of terrifying expression my brother will have.

"That……"

Mashiro Kaiba turned her head to look at the new friends she had met today.

"Goodbye, Yuki! Remember to come visit me again!"

"Okay, goodbye, Mashiro. I'll definitely come back to see you again."

Yuki nodded and smiled at Kaiba Mashiro, making her promise.

Beside her, Xingye Wu pointed to herself and said, "Wait, Mashiro-chan. Have you forgotten about me and Xiaoxue? We'll come to play with you too."

"Oh, you can skip this. You don't have to come."

"Wow, this discrimination is so obvious!"

"Isn't this normal? You know, we ruined their date."

"No way, Xiaoxue! You're actually joking!"

"What's with that incredulous look on your face? Do you take me for some emotionless, expressionless woman...?"

Hoshino Mai screamed as if she had been heartbroken, but her exaggerated reaction did not evoke any sympathy from anyone. Instead, it drew criticism from Izayoi Yuki.

The conversation between Hoshinobu and Izayoi Yukima eased the atmosphere of parting.

—And so, the Kiyosumi team's one-day holiday trip after arriving in Xingfeng City officially came to an end.

Chapter 175 Duel in the City?

After watching Mashiro Kaiba and her maid say goodbye and leave, Yuki and the girls finished their dinner outside and then began their journey home.

In the days that followed, nothing particularly noteworthy happened to the group.

During the day, they either train in the specially prepared dueling arena or exchange information with other teams in the hotel, searching for information on each team. Occasionally, Hoshino Mai would also drag Izayoi Yuki and Yuki to some interesting places in Hoshino City to visit and take pictures, making it seem like they were really there for a vacation.

Of course, You Xi did not forget her promise during this time.

When Kaiba Mashiro had free time, he would invite her out to play, and they would also visit the Red-Eyes Dojo. He brought a few gift cards that he thought would be useful for Jonouchi Ranpo's deck, and he even audited a few classes at the Red-Eyes Dojo.

Well, You Xi had a very good impression of these classes.

While Kiyosumi High School does offer dueling classes, their professionalism and quality are clearly inferior to those of the Red-Eyes Dojo instructors. The former simply reads from the textbook, while the latter gives Yuki the feeling of listening to a master lecturer online.

Furthermore, the explanations were simple and easy to understand. While I wouldn't say I benefited immensely, You Xi felt that she had genuinely learned something.

Unfortunately, he hadn't had enough time to attend classes and hadn't officially joined the Red-Eyes Dojo, so he hadn't yet gained recognition from the dojo or received the "Red-Eyes" card inheritance. At most, he had only managed to build a good relationship with Jonouchi Ranpo.

And so, time passed day by day, and soon... the day of the Star Cup main tournament arrived—

"Peng!"

"Peng!"

Accompanied by grand music, countless cannons exploded in the azure sky.

In the largest and most luxurious dueling arena in Star Peak City, which was specially funded and built by Seahorse Corporation, three-person teams wearing various team uniforms walked into the square from one of the gates.

Each time a school team enters, it is accompanied by a simultaneous introduction from the host. Drones controlled by intelligent AI float around, their cameras capturing the star players from each team and projecting their images onto 3D projectors in the center and various sections. This allows everyone to clearly see the prowess of these elite teams who have overcome numerous challenges to reach this stage.

And naturally, the one who takes the lead and attracts the most attention is the champion of each Star Cup.

That is--

"Xingfeng! Xingfeng! Xingfeng!"

"Xingfeng! Xingfeng! Xingfeng!"

"Xingfeng! Xingfeng! Xingfeng...!!!"

The roar of the mountains and the sound of the waves came from all directions, and could be heard clearly even from a distance.

And all these voices were shouting the same name, with extreme fanaticism.

Yuki's familiar Kaiba Mashiro and Saki, along with another girl with emerald green hair, wore the battle robes of Star Edge Duel Academy and walked at the very front of the entire school team, bathed in the waves, as if they were at the center of the world.

In comparison, Kiyosumi High School is located further back in the map.

As the first team to qualify for the round, their priority was obviously not very high, and they were not called up until more than a hundred teams had already set off.

Seeing Kaiba Mashiro and the others walking at the forefront in the huge 3D image in the center of the square, Hoshino Mai couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

"Wow, this is spectacular. It's definitely their home turf. This is much better than the preliminaries, right, Xiaoxi?"

"Yes, it's very impressive."

Logically speaking, this wasn't the first time Youxi had witnessed such a scene; he had encountered a similar situation when facing off against the Morning Light Duel Academy in the preliminaries. However, the Star Peak Duel Academy was far superior to the Morning Light Duel Academy.

Upon arriving here, You Xi truly grasped the reality of Xingfeng Duel Academy's reputation as the greatest in history; its power was no joke.

"Actually, this is not a privilege that belongs to Xingfeng, but a right of the Xingchen Cup champion. When the champion team participates in the main competition next time, they can be in the lead of all teams and enjoy everyone's attention."

Izayoi Yuki maintained a calm expression, but her gaze did not leave the 3D image of the Star Peak Duel Academy.

She said, "If we can win the championship, we can also be at the top next time."

If others had heard this boast, it would most likely have drawn ridicule. However, the arena was too noisy and lively at the moment, so no one paid any special attention to others. The girl's voice was also relatively soft, and only Yu Xi and Xing Ye Wu, who were closest to her, could hear it.

However, despite her boastful words, Izayoi Yuki did not believe that she and her companions could not do it.

Especially after witnessing the duel between Yuuki and Saki a few days ago.

The Star Peak Duel Academy's team members are undeniably strong every year; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to maintain their dominant position for so long. Although it's unknown how much of their strength Saki and Kaiba Mashiro used when fighting Yuuki, the fact that Yuuki was able to defeat them multiple times suggests that Kiyosumi has the potential to fight them.

If they can defeat Xingfeng, the Star Cup championship will be within reach.

After that...

"We will definitely win, Xue."

Seemingly sensing the thoughts swirling in the girl's heart beside her, Yuki assured her, "We will definitely be able to rescue Uncle Izayoi."

Upon hearing Yuki's words, Izayoi Yuki snapped back to reality, her crimson eyes meeting the boy's gaze, and she nodded gently.

"...Okay, please, Yuuki. Lend me your power."

"It's natural."

"Hey~ Is it just Youxi?" Xingye Wu's drawn-out voice came from the other side of Youxi, "Xiaoxue, you're showing favoritism, can I take that as you being fickle because of your looks?"

"What does this have to do with forgetting loyalty for the sake of beauty?"

Izayoi Yuki didn't understand why Hoshino Mai's thoughts had gone in that direction, but having long been familiar with her nature, she didn't intend to dwell on it. Instead, she casually said, "Alright, alright, I'll leave it to you too, Mai. Lend me your power as well."

"Wow~ That's such a perfunctory answer, Xiaoxue. Are you treating me like a child?"

"If you know, then this is good—Yu Xi, what are you looking at?"

Halfway through the conversation, Izayoi Yuki suddenly noticed that Yuki, who wasn't involved in the topic, seemed a little distracted, looking around with her head darting about. She couldn't help but ask him a question.

"It's nothing, I'm just looking for Chunhu and the others."

Yuki looked away and answered Izayoi Yukido.

“Chunhu and the others said they would come to cheer us on, so I thought they should be here right now.”

"Oh, yes, that's true."

Having been eliminated in the preliminaries, Dawnlight Duel Academy was unable to participate in the Star Cup main tournament this year, and the school naturally couldn't afford to send its members to Star Peak City for a trip. However, the three main members of Dawnlight Duel Academy, led by Akabane Ryo, still came at their own expense.

The reason is very simple.

It was to cheer on You Xi and the others.

However, considering the cost of living in Xingfeng City, and the fact that they only arrived yesterday, You Xi hasn't had a chance to meet them yet.

"Give up, Yuki."

Izayoi Yuki advised, "It's difficult to see the stands from here; there are too many people over there. Let's wait until after the main competition to meet up with Ayaka."

"Hmm...it seems like this is the only way."

Yu Xi understood that Izayoi Yuki was right; after trying it out, he found that his efforts were basically in vain.

This stadium is said to be able to hold 100,000 people at a time. Even with Chunhu's prior warning, finding a specific target among so many people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But if it were the other way around, I'm sure Akabane Ryo and the others would be able to discover Kiyosumi's presence.

Then please watch, this is our... Kiyosumi's duel.

You Xi took a deep breath and then exhaled gently.

He clutched his clear blue and white team uniform, personally designed by Xing Yewu, and looked toward the high platform in front of him.

As time went on, more than 200 school teams from different regions had already gathered in the square. And as if seizing this opportunity, someone appeared on the platform and took the place of the host.

The man looked young, and his well-tailored suit accentuated his handsome appearance. His hairstyle wasn't flashy, making him seem somewhat out of place in a world where unconventional styles were the norm.

But no one would think he was just an ordinary person because of that.

On the one hand, ordinary people would never appear on such a stage; on the other hand, there are probably very few people in the world who wouldn't recognize this excessively young man who has reached the pinnacle of the world.

Even if there were people I didn't recognize, I recognized them after the host's loud shout of "Let's welcome Mr. Kaiba Aoto!"

This was the first time Yuki had seen Kaiba Sojin not on television, but in person.

"I suppose I don't need to introduce myself any further."

Unlike the arrogant and flamboyant ancestor of the other world, Seto Kaiba, Aoto Kaiba appeared much calmer and more reserved. His steady yet magnetic voice reached everyone's ears through the loudspeaker.

"I, Kaiba Aoto, am deeply honored to be appointed by the Duel Alliance as the organizer of this year's Star Cup. I am also delighted to see you all overcome numerous obstacles and difficulties to reach this point. As the largest youth tournament in the Eastern Duel Alliance, the Star Cup has always been committed to..."

The familiar official platitudes flowed from Haima Cangren's mouth one after another. Students at the school had heard this type of speech countless times in various occasions and were more or less tired of it.

However, the Seahorse Man's language skills are quite good; he attracts everyone's attention in a very witty and humorous way, so as not to make people bored.

Before they knew it, more than ten minutes had passed. When Haima Cangren stopped to take a sip of water, everyone realized that the speech was over.

However, the real issue is yet to come.