The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　The combined defense of those three dragon turtles was truly astonishing, far surpassing even Servis's "Emerald Tree Dragon" + "Emerald Dragon Spirit".

　However, as the seventh-ranked player, it's still unacceptable that he was blocked by the Nine-Star Magical Spirit.

　Normally, Lei Qi should have summoned a fourth-tier magical spirit under these circumstances, but he did not.

　He only had three nine-star magical spirits in his field.

　Although these three nine-star magical spirits are of different types, they all belong to the "Thunder Dragon" category.

　This shows that Lei Qi is a mage who is skilled in using electric dragons.

　Indeed, based on the information currently available, this is the case. He occasionally uses dragons of other attributes, but they are mostly electric-type.

　The general characteristics of electric systems are high speed and high attack.

　Lei Qi's three thunder dragons did indeed possess extremely high speed and attack power. However, they simply couldn't break through the combined defense of the three dragon turtles.

　However, the characteristic of "coordinated defense" is that it "forgoes movement".

　After the three dragon turtles built their defensive fortifications, they stood still and never moved again.

　Lei Qi's opponent quietly developed his strength in the center of the three dragon turtles.

　Because if you want to win, you can't just defend and not attack.

　However, the duel dragged on and on because Lei Qi was unable to break through the Dragon Turtle's coordinated defense, and all of his opponent's accumulated attacks failed.

　Now that opponent has actually run out of offensive options, but doesn't want to admit defeat, he's just holding on.

　Lei Qi wanted to end the duel quickly, but couldn't break through his opponent's defenses.

　Thus, a complete stalemate ensued.

　It's unclear whether he didn't want to reveal his trump card, or if he simply didn't use the more powerful magic cards.

　Add to the deck.

　But if time continues to drag on like this, not to mention whether Dark and Noah Sharp are willing to wait, even Lei Qi himself would not be satisfied. He definitely wants to continue to climb the ranks, maintain his ranking, or even go to a higher level.

　"I hope he's just hiding his trump card."

　Dark took a deep breath, thinking with a hint of helplessness. He felt that his good luck seemed to be coming to an end.

　"The good things that happened in the fairy flower garden, do I have to pay them all back now...?"

　Another minute of waiting.

　In the context of a duel, that's equivalent to two more rounds.

　The duel has finally taken an unexpected turn.

　The [Linked Defense] effect has expired! The duelist piloting the Thunder Dragon's face darkened. Meanwhile, Raiki Hodge finally breathed a sigh of relief.

　Even though he was in the arena, he could clearly feel that the atmosphere outside had become somewhat dull compared to before.

　But if you want to stay in the ring for a long time, you have to know how to be a turtle!

　He didn't want to reveal all his cards, making himself an easy target for countermeasures and eliminated. Luckily, the opponent's "coordinated defense" only lasted three minutes, otherwise he was afraid he wouldn't have been able to endure it.

　Thank goodness, it only took a few extra minutes. With the next two duels sped up, we'll be back in no time.

　Having finally ended the duel, Reihotchia only then had the leisure to turn around and observe the next two challengers.

　But upon closer inspection, he realized that the situation had changed.

　Why has the number of spectators at the dragon head increased again? Aren't they all tired of seeing the crushing defeats and want to go see the newcomers?

　What exactly happened between those two challengers?

　"..."

　Who goes first?

　Lei Qi asked in a rather cheerful voice.

　Although his opponent was not a good match, he could not hesitate because of that.

　The duel just now lasted a bit longer, but it didn't affect his condition.

　He's in great shape right now and doesn't need a rest. Let's go for it and take down the next opponent!

　It can only be said that Noah Sharp's fame is far from enough; he did not try to disguise himself and was not recognized.

　Dark looked over there and saw Noah Sharp walk straight ahead without saying a word and stand directly opposite Lei Qi.

　The duel immediately followed.

　Although Lei Qi didn't show it on the surface, he made significant adjustments to his original deck during "Preparation Phase 1".

　The duel with the Dragon Turtle Duelist served as a wake-up call for him, and coupled with the looming threat from Noah Sharp, he chose to focus all his efforts on building his deck.

　The "Dragon King" must not be defeated.

　Once you fail, there will be no chance to return to the ring.

　These were rules he set for himself, but they became shackles binding him. However, focusing on building a strong deck doesn't equal going all out.

　It depends on whether the opponent has the strength.

　His duel with Noah Sharp has entered the "battle phase"!

　[Good morning!】

Chapter 1503 The Era of Comparing Fathers (4k)

　As Noah Sharp and Rachel Hodge began their duel, the duel on the main stage had just ended, and the director seamlessly switched to this duel.

　Rachel Hotchkiss's "Dragon King Arena" on Dragon Cliff had long attracted the attention of the event organizers.

　While this practice of setting up competitions within a competition is not explicitly prohibited in the rulebook, it does carry a hint of "opportunism," which is not well-received by the organizers.

　However, the other contestants in the preliminary rounds were also trying to score points within the rules, and this behavior was just one of them. There is no reason to prohibit only this one behavior.

　Therefore, after discussion, the organizing committee decided to leave it alone. The diverse and vibrant preliminary rounds are also a testament to its appeal.

　Therefore, when a "heavyweight" contestant finally came up to challenge the "Dragon King," the director chose to bring him to the main stage.

　Although there are many projection channels in the preliminary rounds, the main stage always occupies the most screen space, and many of the projection devices are rather rudimentary, or even just the main stage.

　Being able to step onto the main stage means being seen by audiences across the entire mainland.

　This is also the ultimate pursuit for some contestants who come for fame.

　They would even challenge well-known contestants just to get on the main stage.

　The scene then shifts, and the commentator quickly introduces the identities and backgrounds of the two contestants in one sentence before switching directly to commentary on the duel.

　Noah Sharp was more famous than Rachel Hodge, but that was before the World Cup qualifiers began.

　Lei Qi, who is currently ranked seventh on the leaderboard, has already surpassed Noah Sharp in terms of "fame" alone.

　However, whether this "fame" can be effectively converted into popularity depends on his subsequent performance.

　If he loses this duel and loses the title of "Dragon King," Raqi Hodge will just be one of the many short-lived contestants in the preliminary rounds.

　The commentators on the main stage also made a big deal out of the number "seven," creating a very exciting atmosphere for the audience.

　Inside the arena, Noah Sharp and Rachel Hodge lived up to expectations, putting on an extremely exciting duel!

　Dark watched from the sidelines, completely focused.

　Because next, he will challenge the winner of this duel.

　Therefore, the more intense the duel, the more advantageous it will be for him.

　Only in this way can we see more of the two players' true intentions.

　Noah Sharp was the first to launch an attack in this duel.

　As a highly renowned user of the "Black Dragon," Noah Sharp summoned his trump card right from the start—the "Black Abyss Dragon"!

　"Black Abyss Dragon" belongs to the "Dragon of Despair". Its ultimate move, "Despair Breath", can silence the opponent for a full thirty seconds, preventing them from using their ultimate move.

　Moreover, the cooldown of "Desperate Breath" is only thirty seconds, which can basically be seamlessly connected and completely seal off a magic spirit's ultimate move.

　With the blessing of the Legendary Dragon passive ability, its three main attributes are basically the same as the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", making it a dominant force among the nine-star magical spirits.

　This allows it to suppress the vast majority of nine-star magical spirits, even Raqi Hotchia's "Thunder Dragon"!

　At the start of the duel, Lei Qi also managed to quickly summon the Nine Stars (Thunder Dragon).

　However, the "Thunder Dragon" he summons is called "Rain Thunder Dragon," a magic-type Thunder Dragon that can enhance the power and casting speed of its lightning-type special moves by using the field skill "Thunder and Rain."

　Because he hadn't paid attention to Noah Sharp before, Raiqi's "Rain Thunder Dragon" had just released a field technique after entering the arena, covering the duel field with a torrential downpour of lightning and thunder, when it was hit in the face by "Despair Breath" from "Black Abyss Dragon," instantly losing the ability to release subsequent special moves.

　This immediately put it at a disadvantage, turning it into a complete punching bag for the "Black Abyss Dragon".

　Lei Qi has stood on this stage for a while now, and it's not like he hasn't encountered some close calls. But being utterly crushed right from the start like this is extremely rare.

　His expression turned noticeably serious, and his initial idea of ​​"adjusting the dish according to the menu" was instantly extinguished.

　He had realized that this opponent was not easy to deal with, and if he did not go all out, he feared that things would not end well.

　However, the disadvantage of underestimating the opponent when going first was too great, and it was unrealistic for him to turn the tide immediately. He could only grit his teeth and persevere, waiting for his hand to accumulate cards.

　It must be said that Lei Qi's resilience was remarkable. Although Noah Sharp held the advantage, he couldn't defeat him. While Lei Qi's "Rain Thunder Dragon" was killed by the "Black Abyss Demon Dragon," the thunderstorms it created played a significant role in the subsequent duel. Following "Rain Thunder Dragon," Lei Qi summoned the nine-star magical spirit "Nether Thunder Dragon," a dragon with both dark and lightning attributes, its stats leaning towards attack, making it a physical-strengthening dragon.

　The "Desperate Breath" of the "Black Abyss Dragon" can prevent the opponent from using their ultimate move. However, it cannot disable the opponent's passive ultimate move.

　The "Nether Thunder Dragon" can absorb lightning elements during thunderstorms to enhance its physical constitution, which gives it the ability to fight against the "Black Abyss Demon Dragon".

　Even so, the "Nether Thunder Dragon" is no match for the "Black Abyss Demon Dragon".

　Both possess the dark attribute, but when the "Nether Thunder Dragon" and the "Black Abyss Demon Dragon" stand together, it's like a counterfeit. The despair emanating from the "Black Abyss Demon Dragon" constantly erodes the "Nether Thunder Dragon," causing its condition to steadily decline.

　That decline in performance was not reflected in the data.

　The corrosive aura of despair will not be displayed on the panel.

　But for every second the battle with the "Black Abyss Dragon" continues, the erosion of despair deepens.

　This could even affect the mage's psychology through the magical spirits. Lei Qi's negative emotions were gradually accumulating.

　However, his strength has not been affected for the time being.

　"Nether Thunder Dragon" is no match for "Black Abyss Dragon". Moreover, Noah Sharp can summon other magic cards to provide support.

　He attempted to launch a sneak attack on "Dark Abyss Dragon" by releasing the Electric Spell Card "Thunder Roar" based on "Dark Abyss Dragon's" presence on the field, but Noah Sharp easily countered it.

　Finally, when Noah Sharp summoned the second "Dark Abyss Dragon", the "Nether Thunder Dragon" was quickly defeated.

　But this is not the end.

　The core special move of "Nether Thunder Dragon" is a deathrattle type, which can only be triggered after it is sent to the graveyard during battle.

　That is to allow Raiqi to retrieve two "Thunder Dragon" cards that are not "Dark Thunder Dragon" from his own deck, add them to his hand, and choose one to Special Summon.

　There are no star rating restrictions for the search criteria, but the summoning criteria cannot exceed nine stars.

　This is Lei Qi's core tactic. All the duels before this were just prelude.

　He almost immediately picked out two "Thunder Dragons" from his deck and added them to his hand.

　One of the "Thunder Dragon" cards is the same nine-star Thunder Dragon – "Steel Shield Thunder Dragon".

　The timely summoning of the "Steel Shield Thunder Dragon" blocked Noah Sharp's next attack, allowing Raqi to survive the "Desperate Breath" of the "Black Abyss Dragon".

　"Steel Shield Thunder Dragon" is the only nine-star Thunder Dragon in its deck that focuses on defense.

　While its defense cannot compare to the previous player's "Three Dragon Turtles Combined Defense", it is outstanding in single-target defense.

　In particular, Steel-type Pokémon are partially immune to Dragon-type Pokémon, so this "Steel Shield Thunder Dragon" can be considered to have special defense against Dragon-type Pokémon.

　After hiding behind "Steel Shield Thunder Dragon", Lei Qi plotted to summon another "Thunder Dragon" that he had just acquired at the same time.

　That was one of his strongest trump cards—the +2-star magical spirit "Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Dragon"!

　In addition to being able to summon terrifying lightning like a heavenly tribulation—"Heavenly Tribulation Lightning"—the "Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Dragon" also possesses an extremely unique ability.

　That is, every time you use "Heavenly Tribulation Lightning" to destroy a magical spirit, the three attributes of "Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Dragon" will increase.

　This special ability gives "Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Dragon" the ability to surpass the average twelve stars.

　He has kept this trump card hidden until now, intending to use this special ability to achieve victory in a crucial duel.

　However, judging from the results...