Lucas turned around, and just as he expected, there was no one else who could be this rude except for Bi Yan. However, he wasn't the least bit angry. Instead, he maintained his gentlemanly demeanor and asked politely, "Do you need something, Miss Bi?"
"You tell me." Bi Yan's face was full of arrogant amusement. "The only reason I joined this ridiculous competition is because of you."
"Well, I'm truly honored." Lucas smiled. "But I already have Ganyu. You're not my type."
"You—" Bi Yan, despite her aggressive personality, was not particularly skilled in verbal sparring. Whenever someone retorted sharply, she often found herself at a loss for words. After a brief pause, she could only snort coldly. "My goal is to make sure you lose and fail to become the Tianshu. So, I'm challenging you to a match."
"Oh, I see." Lucas put on an exaggeratedly enlightened expression. "But I refuse."
"Alright then, let's get started—" Bi Yan started before abruptly realizing what he had just said. "Wait, what?! What did you say?!"
"I said, I refuse." Lucas spoke seriously. "According to the competition rules, a duel can only start if both participants agree. Are your ears just for decoration?"
"I— I remember that, of course!" Bi Yan retorted stubbornly. "But why are you refusing? Could it be that you're afraid?"
"Yep." Lucas nodded without hesitation. "The goal of this competition is to win, so naturally, I should pick weaker opponents. Not just me—do you think anyone else here would want to face you?"
Bi Yan glanced around, only to realize that the other competitors were deliberately keeping their distance from her. Some even avoided making eye contact.
Lucas wasn't avoiding the duel out of fear. In truth, with his current strength, facing Bi Yan—who had an extremely diluted Bifang bloodline—there was almost no chance of losing. He simply wanted to toy with this arrogant troublemaker and enjoy watching her frustration.
And indeed, he had achieved his goal.
"You coward!" Bi Yan shouted angrily.
"Yep, that's me." Lucas had no intention of arguing.
"Spineless wimp!"
"Wow, your insult vocabulary is really lacking." Lucas chuckled and turned to leave. "If we had a trash-talking contest, even a kindergarten kid could make you cry."
"You— You—" Bi Yan pointed furiously at Lucas's back, struggling to find a comeback before finally blurting out, "Ganyu must be blind to like you!"
The moment those words left her mouth, Lucas suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"You can say whatever you want about me, I don't care." Lucas turned around slowly, his gaze turning cold. "But if you insult Ganyu, then we have a real problem."
For some reason, despite being so arrogant and domineering, Bi Yan felt a sudden chill run down her spine under Lucas's gaze. However, she stubbornly held her ground. "So what? Are you finally going to duel me?"
"A simple duel would be too boring." Lucas rubbed his chin in thought. "How about we make a bet? If you lose, you have to run ten laps around Yujing Terrace while shouting, 'I'm sorry, Brother Lucas!' over and over again until I can't hear you anymore."
Bi Yan gritted her teeth. "And if you lose?"
Lucas smirked. "Then I'll get down and lick your shoes clean with my tongue."
"There's no need for more talk." Lucas sneered. "Do you want to settle this with the standard card duel, or battle mode?"
Naturally, given Bi Yan's personality, Lucas had already predicted her answer.
"Battle mode, obviously." Bi Yan clenched her fists, the sound of her knuckles cracking clearly audible. "I'm going to smash that annoying face of yours in."
"Alright then." Lucas took out two Mora Tokens. "How about we make it a one-round match, winner takes both badges?"
"Gladly." Bi Yan grinned. "Looks like we'll be seeing the first elimination."
"Hey." Shenhe walked up with a slight frown. "Are you serious? If you lose—"
"There is no 'if.'" Lucas calmly secured his Seven Saints Disc to his hand. "Let her experience my deck firsthand."
"Duel start!"
As their voices rang out in unison, a separate space instantly materialized around them.
Of course, this wasn't actually a newly created dimension—if Liyue's technology had advanced to that level, it would have long surpassed Khaenri'ah's peak from five hundred years ago. Instead, it was a type of holographic projection technology that used data analysis to manifest the effects of Genius Invokation TCG within a simulated battlefield.
Within this space, only card abilities could deal actual damage to a player's health—an effective way to balance the power differences between competitors.
"They even developed something like this?" Lucas glanced down at the glowing interface on his glove, muttering, "Interesting… I wonder if my own spatial abilities can influence this artificial space?"
Seeing that a duel had begun so quickly, many competitors gathered to watch. Since no one fully understood how battle mode worked yet, spectating was the fastest way to learn.
Despite the format shift, the core gameplay remained largely the same. The main difference was that players now took the place of summoned creatures. Summon Cards, Equipment Cards, and Effect Cards all served as support tools, while the dice-based summoning cost system had been replaced by an automatically accumulating resource pool.
Players could choose to go all out early with weaker cards or play defensively, stockpiling resources for powerful late-game plays—allowing for vastly different strategies.
"Using Equipment Card: Phoenix Wings of Fire!"
Bi Yan made the first move. As soon as she activated her card, a pair of dazzling crimson wings unfurled behind her, lifting her into the air.
"Hahaha!" Bi Yan laughed smugly as she hovered high above. "Now, I'm untouchable!"
To be fair, her plan was actually quite clever. Of course, it also stemmed from her natural instincts—being a descendant of the Bifang, she was already accustomed to aerial combat.
For Bi Yan, who was naturally inclined toward aerial combat, this card was indeed a perfect fit.
"You know," Lucas shrugged, "you're really simple-minded. If I just use a ranged weapon, I can hit you easily."
"Hah! A mere bow or crossbow? You think you can hit someone as fast as me?" Bi Yan sneered and suddenly dove at him in a rapid assault.
"Impossible."