Chapter 62: Spiritual Vision

As soon as Mokuba finished speaking and stepped back, a large crowd of experts inside the ruins immediately swarmed forward. Their eager momentum startled Yuxuan so much that he felt for a brief moment as if these people were going to pin him into a corner and rough him up, almost making him summon the Silent Swordsman on the spot to protect him.

Fortunately, although these people looked like ravenous wolves, they didn't resort to physical contact, instead firing questions at him all at once about the sequence of events.

Thus, Yuxuan gave a brief account of how he was sucked into the Spirit World merely by touching the stone tablet, what he witnessed there, hearing about the wicked god's plot to devour the Spirit World, and subsequently encountering and dueling Bandit Keith...

Thinking about it now, a similar event had occurred back during the Orichalcos arc. Back then, Yugi and Atem had traveled together to the Spirit World, where the Dark Magician Girl begged them to defeat the wicked god of Orichalcos and save the realm.

The experts weren't particularly interested in his card game with Keith; instead, they repeatedly and in great detail asked about the circumstances surrounding the appearance of the Black Luster Soldier.

"There is also another very important matter."

The team leader, with a slightly receding hairline and dark circles under his eyes obtained from god knows how many consecutive all-nighters, continued to ask.

"Did you experience 'Spirit Sight'?"

Yuxuan paused, bewildered: "What is that?"

The researchers exchanged odd glances with one another. Then, as if realizing something, the team leader said with a sudden look of realization, "Ah, right, you're a student scheduled to enter the academy this year... Of course. You'll learn about it in detail during your classes later.

To put it simply, it's a phenomenon that has a probability of occurring when a small number of duelists achieve a high degree of resonance with spirits. Generally speaking, we believe that individuals with the 'Spirit Affinity' trait have a higher chance of experiencing Spirit Sight, but it is indeed possible for duelists without this innate talent to experience it as well."

"So, what exactly is that thing?"

"The possibilities of the spirit," the team leader gestured with both hands as he spoke. "This is impossible to predict. Some people see the postures and images of Duel Monsters seemingly from ancient times, while others have specific scenes, objects, or the like emerge in their minds...

No one has yet cracked the true meaning behind many 'Spirit Sights.' However, there are also numerous examples where research teams based their studies directly on the imagery seen by duelists' 'Spirit Sights,' and as a result, successfully created new forms of Duel Monsters that appeared in the visions, or manufactured related Magic and Trap Cards through the scenes and objects they witnessed..."

Yuxuan seemed to understand.

In other words, this was just inspiration for "card-printing," right?

How many cards should be printed, what kind of new forms monsters would evolve into, what types and objects the supporting cards would be...

Perhaps if there were a reference to point out a specific research direction, it could greatly accelerate the progress of research.

Realizing this, Yuxuan instantly had a bold idea.

Clearly, he hadn't seen any Spirit Sight just now. But if what the research team wanted was simply a directional guide for card-printing...

"Oh, come to think of it, it seems I really did see something," Yuxuan frowned, pretending to rack his brains in a deep effort to remember.

The entire research team was instantly overjoyed. This was the first time anyone had ever resonated with the ruins related to the Black Luster Soldier. If they could obtain clues from the Spirit Sight, perhaps they could break through the research bottleneck that had stalled them for years in one fell swoop!

The team leader hurriedly reached out to hold back the excited members behind him, gesturing for them to calm down, and then asked carefully with bated breath, "Then... what did you see?

Even if it's vague, it doesn't matter; Spirit Sights are usually scattered fragments. Even the smallest detail..."

"Oh, I remember, I saw two warriors. They looked somewhat similar to the Black Luster Soldier, but they were in an early, youthful form and looked very young. Judging by the sword qi shot out as they swung their swords, one should be of the LIGHT attribute and the other of the DARK attribute."

***

The experts: "!"

There actually were clues!

Everyone became ecstatic, hurriedly controlling their trembling hands to take frantic notes.

"The two youthful warriors stepped onto an altar, with brazier flames burning on both sides and crossed swords behind them. They vanished on the altar, one turning into light and the other into darkness, converging together to transform into the form of the Black Luster Soldier..."

The experts whispered among themselves while taking notes.

"What does this mean? This description sounds like 'Black Luster Ritual'..."

"Does it mean ritual tributes?"

Upon hearing this, the team leader felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and a thought flashed through his mind instantly.

They had always been researching the possibility of an even stronger form than the "Envoy of the Beginning," but based on this clue from the Spirit Sight, could it be that their direction had been wrong all along?

Perhaps the key to evolution was hidden in the choice of Tributes for Ritual Summoning?

"Oh, I also saw another scene..."

The experts: "!?"

What?

Experiencing Spirit Sight once was already an immensely rare stroke of fortune. How could this guy rattle off two in one breath?

"The background looked like light appearing in endless chaos, and the youthful warrior gradually grew into the Envoy of Chaos amidst the light... Never mind, I'll have your professional artist make a composite sketch later; I can draw the scene directly for you."

Yuxuan continued.

"By the way, I also saw another image..."

The experts: "???"

There's more?

However, they soon discovered that they were still being naive.

It wasn't even limited to three. Yuxuan then went on to fluently and endlessly describe several other different scenes: ancient ritual grounds, a Gaia Knight charging on horseback transforming into a Black Luster Soldier...

In no time at all, the expert group regarded him with awe, as if he were a divine being.

Not only did so many Spirit Sights appear in one breath, but he could describe the scenes of each Spirit Sight in such meticulous detail—it was simply unheard of!

The team leader even suspected for a moment whether the other party was just spouting nonsense to make fun of them. Yet, the facts that the other party had resonated with the ruins and gained the acknowledgment of the Black Luster Soldier spirit were undeniable truths witnessed by all.

So, just how terrifyingly high was this kid's "Spirit Affinity"?

***

Of course, they didn't realize that Yuxuan hadn't experienced any Spirit Sight nor had he seen a thing. As a person from the future familiar with the actual card game environment, he naturally knew what the future reinforcement direction of the entire archetype was.

Therefore, while the research team felt the details were unfathomably precise, Yuxuan even regretted that he couldn't describe them in greater detail.

He could even directly list out the effect parameters and the approximate ATK and DEF data ranges for each monster...

However, Yuxuan had previously self-studied a little bit of card-making basics, so he understood that in this world, crafting cards—whether it was a monster's ATK/DEF or a card's effects—was not something one could simply scribble down at will. Rather, it required translating whatever type and degree of ability the crafted card possessed into the descriptive text of duel rules.

When a card-maker wrote text on a card, they weren't manually assigning the written effects to the card; instead, they were describing the power inherently possessed by the card in the form of effect text that any ordinary duelist could comprehend.

Thus, even if Yuxuan were to recite the ATK/DEF data and effect text of a card verbatim, it wouldn't actually help with card-making. Because a card could only bear effects corresponding to the power it inherently held; you couldn't just write random nonsense effects and instantly become invincible.

Therefore, what Yuxuan had described first earlier were respectively [Beginning Knight], [Evening Twilight Knight], and the Ritual Magic [Super Soldier's Soul], which belonged to the future Black Luster Soldier archetype.

Both [Beginning Knight] and [Evening Twilight Knight] were Level 4 lower-class Warrior-type monsters dedicated to serving as Ritual Materials. The Black Luster Soldier summoned using them as Ritual Materials could gain powerful effects: banishing an opponent's monster on the field, banishing a random card from the opponent's hand for one turn, and attacking multiple times within a single turn.

[Super Soldier's Soul] was the most powerful Ritual Magic card in the Black Luster Soldier system, allowing Ritual Summons of the Black Luster Soldier using monsters from the hand and deck as materials.

In addition, there were several other supporting cards he casually described based on his impressions.

These were also new cards released many years later, though they had arrived untimely as reinforcements; by that time, the metagame had become far too ferocious, and the Black Luster Soldier could no longer keep up with the times. But if they could receive enhancements in the current environment with the help of Kaiba Corporation's research team, they should still prove quite formidable.

Of course, Yuxuan was merely giving it a try. He currently had no direct evidence showing that future cards from reality could be printed in this world, so this was also a test for him to utilize Kaiba's top-tier research team.

The team leader specifically exchanged contact information with him, repeatedly emphasizing that he must contact him if he remembered anything else. The research team would also notify him immediately should there be any progress.

If this experiment succeeded, it would be of extraordinary significance to Yuxuan.

This wouldn't just mean he could acquire enhancements for his Chaos deck; it would further prove that his memories of various future cards—his past life as a veteran card player—might have the opportunity to transform into an inexhaustible, massive vault of wealth!

"Overtime! Everyone work overtime!"

The team leader shouted excitedly through his dark circles, as if he had seen the dawn of a breakthrough.

The spirit of the Black Luster Soldier drifted silently behind Yuxuan. Listening to his long and plausible description, question marks couldn't help but pop up on its forehead.

Did my master really see this many Spirit Sights?

Why don't I know about a single one of them?

Could it be that I'm a fake spirit...