Chapter 31: Professor Chi Ma Is Still a Straightforward Man

"Hey! Snap out of it! Are you still conscious?"

Carefully storing Middelash's "rough draft," Tiancheng Guang walked toward the Gem Knight Bai Jing; the two Flame Swordsmen hurried to flank Tiancheng Guang, watching warily the knight nailed firmly into the earth.

Bai Jing struggled weakly, trying to pull himself out of the ground, but having been utterly battered moments ago, he had no strength left; after two or three failed attempts, he gave up and looked at Tiancheng Guang, solemnly saying: "Thank you, my lord, for saving my life. I am Bai Jing, a knight of the Gem Knight Order."

Seeing the knight seemed somewhat rational, the two Flame Swordsmen relaxed their vigilance slightly.

"How did you end up here?" Tiancheng Guang asked curiously.

"... This, sorry, I don't remember...?" He wasn't certain. "I only recall I was leading a team to clear contamination—ah, now I remember: I was controlled by shadow power and nearly became their puppet. Had my comrades not forcibly expelled me from the world, I might have infected others..."

Expelled?

Exiled?

Tiancheng Guang didn't understand his meaning, so he recounted everything that had just happened; Bai Jing's head sank lower and lower, as if trying to bury himself entirely in the earth, before Tiancheng Guang finally asked about his past.

And this, Tiancheng Guang learned a new piece of information—or rather, "remembered" something he had never cared about before.

As everyone knows, a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, besides its text, has another crucial component: the "card art."

Otherwise, holding a pile of papers covered in text would be meaningless.

Card art also connects to other card art—for example, Gaia's evolution from knight to Chaos Warrior, the Hundred Beasts King being repeatedly beaten by wild beasts, the clueless angel endlessly wielding holy relics until punished by the heavens; beyond these classic tales, there are also large-scale "serials."

Such as the "DT" world of the Gem Knights, or the "Dragon Swordsman" world of Wan Rong the Alchemist—large, continuous narratives. These stories feature numerous characters, factions, events, filled with death, separation, friendship, and catastrophic disasters threatening the fate of entire worlds.

The "DT" world of the Gem Knights, in particular, is plagued by endless world-ending disasters; from the first episode to the finale, there has scarcely been a catastrophe smaller than species-level extinction—minimum, it must be capable of scouring the surface clean.

Yet the story Bai Jing told differed from what Tiancheng Guang knew.

According to Bai Jing, he was merely one among many "Bai Jing Knights," a squad leader, certainly not the Creation-Star Bai Jing Captain Tiancheng Guang knew; his daily duty was handling various contaminations and training new knights in "combat"—that is, dueling.

And this is the greatest difference between "card art stories" and "Duel Spirits!"

In the "DT" world, there are no cards, no concept of dueling—everyone fights with real weapons; one misstep means death. Duel Monster Spirits, however, are still honing their "card-playing."

Their relationship is akin to "prototype legend" and "fairies born from the legend."

For easier understanding: the former's "Bai Jing" is Lü Bu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the Bai Jing before Tiancheng Guang is the Servant Lü Bu from FGO—there's a connection, but they're essentially unrelated. Yet conversely, the Spirit's evolution path is no longer unique—his "Bai Jing" could also become the "Savior" form of the DT world, even maintaining that state indefinitely.

Similarly, Wan Rong the Alchemist over there is the same case.

This phenomenon also appears in the original work—for instance, the Spirit World's "Dark World" is wicked and vile, yet in card art, the "Dark World" consists of two factions, some good, some evil.

"Lord Tiancheng, thank you for waking me." After speaking, Bai Jing seemed to regain some strength, struggling to pull himself from the earth, then knelt on one knee, "I offer you my strength—I wish to become your knight... but my comrades are under attack by shadow and darkness; I cannot abandon them!"

Tiancheng Guang didn't mind much—he didn't need to catch someone—but Wan Rong the Alchemist seized the chance to demonstrate his value: "Do you know how to get back?"

"This?"

"I, an alchemist, don't know—do you, a muscle-brain full of rocks, know?"

"Huh?"

"According to you, your knight order once encountered this situation—you'd teleport contaminated beings to another dimension for isolation, then slowly find a cure. So tell me: do you remember which dimension you were teleported to? Do you know which dimension you're in now?"

"You were inexplicably transported by contamination into an unknown shattered dimension, then discovered by a human, and after countless twists, ended up in this shattered dimension where I am—how do you plan to find your way back? Banging your head against dimensional walls?"

Bai Jing broke into a cold sweat, unable to think of anything to say.

"In my view, you'd be better off following this human—his world has developed dimensional exploration technology; perhaps one day they'll find your home, right?"

"Um... you make sense..." The Gem Knight nodded dazedly, bowing again to Tiancheng Guang, "Lord Tiancheng, please let me lend you my strength."

"Good! Of course!" Tiancheng Guang beamed—he liked having someone speak up for him.

Right before Tiancheng Guang's eyes, Bai Jing emitted a brilliant white light; his body slowly shrank until it became a dazzling gem, then transformed into a card.

Gem Knight Bai Jing.

Bai Jing's condition is poor—he can only recover by remaining in card form.

Rare indeed—Tiancheng Guang caught the card and put it away. Rarely had he acquired another usable main deck monster.

Tiancheng Guang turned to Wan Rong the Alchemist, who gave a slight bow, appearing not powerful but elegant: "Rest assured, Master. As an alchemist, I'm delighted to follow a superior Fusion Master. Besides, we've already made our agreement."

Fusion Master...

As a Spirit, Wan Rong the Alchemist was a man of his word—he'd pledged to follow Tiancheng Guang after being saved, and after witnessing Tiancheng Guang's duel, realized he was a "Fusion Master" beyond his imagination, making him even more satisfied. Thus, when Bai Jing wished to leave, he directly spoke up to retain him for Tiancheng Guang—without following the usual custom of dueling Tiancheng Guang first to prove his worth.

"Not at all—I'm still far from it," Tiancheng Guang said modestly.

Compared to the plain and unadorned Bai Jing, Wan Rong the Alchemist was a completely different monster—

Re-Refined Warrior · Wan Rong the Alchemist—he was... an Attack/Defense 0, Level 1 Fusion Monster!

The fact that his Attack and Defense were both 0 would make even seasoned card players feel uneasy; that he was a Level 1 Fusion Monster only amplified his terrifying nature.

Even in Tiancheng Guang's view, counting the currently unusable Super Magical Warrior - Chaos Master and the Ancient Mechanical Ultimate Giant usable only rarely, all his Fusion Monsters were weaker than Wan Rong the Alchemist!

Because he was nearly a "Thousand-Eyed Offering God" that could activate his effect during the opponent's turn—turning the opponent's monsters into his own equipment!

Truly a master among ogres!

Though he required Fusion Summoning to be summoned, making him harder to bring out than Thousand-Eyed Offering God in his deck, there were always ways.

And this time, his final gains were: one Bai Jing, one Wan Rong, one rough draft of Middelash—

Truly returned with full hands—far exceeding Tiancheng Guang's initial expectations!

Thinking that Xiao Mi and Bai Jing had been sent by Chi Ma Ling Wang, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Heh, Professor Chi Ma is still a straightforward man."

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(End of Chapter)