"Zhou Rui, it's you again! The disgrace of slipping on a banana peel last time won't be repeated!"
Zhou Rui put on a sarcastic smirk, "Of course, it won't. I don't have any bananas on me now. Should I get one first?"
Yan Wei's fan snapped open again, its jade ribs glinting as he pointed it at Zhou Rui with a theatrical sneer. "Hmph. This time, I'm wiping that smirk off your face. Let's duel through Awakened Celestial Duelist mode. Let's put your saber to the test again. Will it be sharp enough to cut through my genius commanding?"
"Great! Behold, dear customers. We are about to witness the first showcase of the Awakened Celestial Duelist mode. To all those aspiring Celestial Duelists who have read Boss Lin's announcement, this is your chance to learn how to properly employ it in real-time combat!" Liu Xiaoyu announced with zeal, her voice spreading across the entire multipurpose hall and some of the customers posted it word-for-word on a new Bulletin Board thread.
Zhou Rui's smirk widened, his Celestial Wind Saber glinting faintly as he adjusted the [Celestial Duel Gear] on his wrist, pouring his spiritual energy into it for activation.
Because of his few betting gigs he'd done for Lin Mo back then, he earned enough spirit stones to also pay for the Awakened Celestial Duelist module.
"Genius commanding, huh? Alright. I'll be your guest again. This is for the Benefactor's sake. Oh… and for the record… My starter deck is the same as yours. [Celestial Beasts]."
Upon saying that, he pulled a card that was instantly displayed on the golden screen above the stage.
It was the same card that Lin Mo managed to summon back then. The Level 5 Unit – Jadevein Qilin.
Naturally, he couldn't simply summon that unit right away, as there was a prerequisite to doing so, but that was enough to hype up the crowd.
Meanwhile, Yan Wei, who refused to be outdone, also pulled a card from his deck, showcasing another Level 5 Unit from the [Celestial Beasts] deck. The Starscale Tortoise.
The crowd in the [Divine Arena & Exhibition Hall] erupted, their cheers shaking the stands as the spiritual energy crackled from the growing tension.
Liu Xiaoyu, perched at her makeshift betting stall, was in her element, her voice cutting through all the chaos like a blade.
"You heard them, dear customers! This Awakened Celestial Duel will be worth 100 high-grade spirit stones! Place your bets. Will the Azure Gale's young master soar, or will Crimson Vale's saber cut him down? Minimum 10 low-grade spirit stones, let's make it rain!"
As she said that, she accessed the stage's setting through the Divine Interface System that Lin Mo extended to him, allowing her to manage the divine-grade formation on it.
Soon enough, the golden scoreboard overhead flickered to life, displaying the duelists' names and their respective decks.
Spectators scrambled to toss spirit stones into Xiaoyu's betting pool, while others activated their Viewing Jades, flooding the Bulletin Board with real-time updates.
The thread [UnrivaledGale's Challenge – Yan Wei vs. Zhou Rui Rematch] skyrocketed to the top that it buried those Tower strategy threads or the Convenience Saint threads.
"Sister Xiaoyu! I'm here to help! Boss allowed me to go here so I can play too!" Xiao Ya appeared from her side with an excited grin.
Liu Xiaoyu turned to her and hollered, "Good! Come here. Help me collect their bets. We'll go and play with them later. My arms are itching for a fight."
With a mischievous, almost sly grin, Liu Xiaoyu's eyes scanned every in the hall as though trying to find a proper opponent for her.
She didn't want to just play the casual mode, where it's all about strategically playing the Celestial Duel Cards and commanding her units. She wanted the Awakened mode too. That way, she could do that and then join the fight herself!
Grandmaster Lian leaned forward in her seat, her eyes sharp with interest. "This will be a fine test of the Awakened mode. Young Master Yan's boldness is admirable, but Zhou Rui's control over his saber arts gives him an edge in real combat. The platform's illusions are one thing, but summoning units that could help the duelist in a fight? That's the kind of high-quality summoning talisman that I yearn to learn! This is insane. The Divine Convenience Store could truly produce anything for everyone's convenience!"
"Grandmaster, do you think they'll be able to use high-level units? Level 4 and Level 5 Units will be stronger than the Celestial Duelists, right?"
Liying, seated beside her, nodded eagerly. As much as she wanted to try the same mode, her cultivation was lower than Yan Wei or Zhou Rui, who are both at the peak of the Spirit Condensation Stage. That's why she didn't jump down when he asked for a challenge. Her fellow student, Jiahao, on the other hand, didn't want to recklessly dive headfirst into such a mess. He learned his lesson back when they were given the opportunity to test the Celestial Duel Platform – Xiaoyu defeated him easily.
"Yes. That's the wonder of it. Peel your eyes open, Liying. We'll get to see how it truly works. Shopkeeper's announcement only touched on it like he's narrating a book. We can judge it better by seeing it in action." Grandmaster Lian said, pointing down at the two young men readying themselves for their rematch.
[Initializing Celestial Duel Platform…]
[Deploying Celestial Duel System…]
[Activating Awakened Celestial Duelist Mode…]
[Celestial Duelists Detected: Zhou Rui, Yan Wei]
Unlike the usual initialization of the platform where the messages showed the match type and arena type, the activation of the new mode stopped the other lines.
Soon, a personal Celestial Field extended out from beneath their feet. They're not narrow, but they're not wide either. It spread out with a radius of ten meters with their bodies as the center.
If they move, the Celestial Field moves with them. Every unit they deploy can only move within their respective field.
There was no Celestial Energy as it wasn't treated as a game anymore. To summon the units, they have to use their own spiritual energy. If that wasn't enough, they could supply their [Celestial Duel Gear] with spirit stones or they could just pop a Spirit Replenishing Candy for a single burst of spiritual energy restoration.
"Let's begin this match!" Xiaoyu announced as the divine-grade formation within the stage shimmered into activation, enclosing the two young cultivators inside.
The whole [Divine Arena & Exhibition Hall] sucked their breath in with anticipation as the swirling spiritual energy swirling of their respective Celestial Fields stabilized around Yan Wei and Zhou Rui.
The golden scoreboard overhead pulsed, now displaying their spiritual energy reserves instead of Celestial Energy, reminding everyone that this was a real [Celestial Duel], not just a simple game of [Celestial Duel Platform]
The crowd hushed as their eyes locked on the two duelists, while the Bulletin Board thread surged with frenzied updates, some users already predicting Yan Wei's downfall based on his earlier arrogance and their previous match, where Zhou Rui came out victorious.
Yan Wei's jade fan snapped shut as he put it away in favor of his weapon, the spirit-grade rapier. He also pulled out the first artifact he bought from the store and put it on his head.
His expression turned serious, far from the pompous young master from earlier. He didn't want to lose again. He had to regain his honor.
"Zhou Rui. I'm not slipping on any peels this time!"
With the activation of their [Celestial Duel Gear], cards were automatically drawn from their deck and hovered in front of them. He picked a card from it and summoned the unit.
"Ironclaw Raptor. Come out!
From within his Celestial Field, the Level 3 Unit [Ironclaw Raptor] materialized. It's a sleek, metallic-scaled raptor with sharp claws. It screeched loudly, which was too grating for some of the spectators' ears.
Zhou Rui's smirk didn't falter. He shifted his grip on the Celestial Wind Saber, his own [Celestial Duel Gear] humming as he poured spiritual energy into the card picked.
"Fancy pet you have there, Yan Wei. I hope it's not as annoying as you."
Soon, a lean, silver-furred wolf appeared on his Celestial Field with its eyes crackling with electric sparks. It was also a Level 3 Unit, the [Stormfang Wolf].
It crouched in front of him, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
Given the restriction imposed on the Celestial Duel System, both units mimicked the strength of the two and to summon a Level 4 Unit, they had to sacrifice three units, one from each level, to do so. That rule changed slightly from the initial showcase. It's to ensure that the Celestial Duel Gear wouldn't overload by summoning units stronger than the duelists.
As soon as the two combatants took up a stance, the crowd erupted again. Spirit stones clinked into Liu Xiaoyu's betting pool as she and Xiao Ya scrambled to keep up.
"That's the spirit, dear customers!" Xiaoyu hollered, her voice carrying over the din. "Ironclaw Raptor versus Stormfang Wolf! Yan Wei versus Zhou Rui! Who's got the sharper claws? Bet now, or you'll miss the action!"
Xiao Ya, with her small hands deftly sorting spirit stones, shot Xiaoyu a grin, clearly thrilled to be in the thick of it.