Breaking tiles with bare hands—though "bare hands" wasn't meant in the literal sense.
Breaking tiles was originally a physical ultimate move for Fighting-type pets. However, during the second Interstellar Cup, a man named Ilir used a Bug-type pet, the Masked Black Spider, to shatter an Aurora Curtain cast by an opponent's Psychic-type pet, thereby defeating the opponent and becoming famous overnight.
The key ultimate move used to break the Aurora Curtain was Breaking Tiles.
Breaking Tiles can destroy wall-type skills such as Light Walls and Reflect Walls, so breaking an Aurora Curtain wasn't surprising; what was surprising was that the one using Breaking Tiles was actually a Bug-type pet.
As everyone knows, attributes are a very important choice in battles, and Bug-types have long been recognized by Beast Masters as the weakest attribute.
Even if there are a few rare and powerful existences among Bug-type pets, it doesn't change the fact that Bug-types are the weakest.
After all, individual cases cannot represent an entire species.
Yet, the Masked Black Spider—which was neither rare nor possessed the Fighting attribute—actually used Breaking Tiles and defeated a Psychic-type pet. This shocked nearly everyone watching the Interstellar Cup at the time.
In a post-match interview, Ilir explicitly stated that as long as they are willing to work hard, even pets that aren't Fighting-types can use Fighting ultimate moves.
Once these words were spoken, they directly sparked a Fighting-type craze, and some people actually taught their pets Fighting skills.
Even Beast Masters who didn't teach their pets Fighting skills took to the internet to claim that their pets' ability to take hits had improved significantly.
From then on, the "Bare-Handed Tile Breaking" event officially entered the public eye and became a common sports event in colleges and universities.
That being said, this was the first time since the founding of Shengshui Middle School that a Ghost-type pet had participated in Bare-Handed Tile Breaking.
Before school was even dismissed, the news had spread throughout the entire school.
Everyone knew that Qiao Sang from Class 1 of the first year was going to use Treasure Hunter Ghost to participate in Bare-Handed Tile Breaking at the sports meet.
"Did you hear? That super impressive freshman from the opening ceremony is participating in the sports meet."
"I know, the event is Bare-Handed Tile Breaking, and she's using a Treasure Hunter Ghost."
After the news spread further
"Did you hear? Qiao Sang's Treasure Hunter Ghost even knows Fighting-type skills."
"No way, that's so badass!"
By the time it reached the final version
"Did you hear? Qiao Sang from Class 1—the one who crushed us at the opening ceremony—her Treasure Hunter Ghost knows the Fighting-type move Breaking Tiles, and its proficiency isn't low!"
"What?! Qiao Sang's Treasure Hunter Ghost is going to use Breaking Tiles to crush all the Fighting-type pets in our school?!"
***
Tianjing Garden, No. 1075.
Qiao Sang and little Treasure Hunter Ghost stared at each other.
"You wanted to participate in Bare-Handed Tile Breaking just because you watched this video?" Qiao Sang asked through gritted teeth.
"Xun xun!"
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost pushed the phone forward, pointing to the golden glove being awarded to the champion pet of the Bare-Handed Tile Breaking competition on the screen.
This prize was so cool! It wanted it!
Qiao Sang took a deep breath and calmed her emotions before revealing the cruel truth: "The prizes for our school's sports meet aren't this."
"Xun..."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost froze on the spot, as if struck by a bolt from the blue.
"Ya."
Ya Bao let out a cry from the side, signaling it to be strong in the face of grief.
Qiao Sang picked up the phone and scrolled through the playback history.
【Just how lavish are the prizes for a certain county's Bare-Handed Tile Breaking? Exposed today】 【Magnetic Ferocious Rat Vending Machine】 【Counting down the top ten bugged plots of "Guardian of the Water City," they've been insulting our intelligence】 【The most popular youth Beast Master of the year sparks controversy】 【High-energy edit, high energy ahead, this is the power of pets!】
"When on earth did you watch all these on my phone?" Qiao Sang couldn't help but ask as she looked at the history.
"Xun xun..."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost answered with a depressed expression, clearly not yet recovered from the blow it had just received.
"You haven't been watching videos all night, have you?" Qiao Sang flipped through the records, unable to find anything she had played for a long time.
"Xun."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost shook its head.
It also played with the virtual helmet.
*To think you even remembered to charge the phone after watching; she actually didn't notice a thing for so long...* Qiao Sang put down the phone and said, "Regardless, since we've signed up, we have to train hard. We don't need to be first, but let's not be dead last."
"Xun..."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost gave a listless response.
Seeing this, Qiao Sang said generously, "It's no big deal, it's just a golden glove. If you win, I'll buy one for you."
"Xun!"
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost's eyes lit up, and it excitedly floated over to rub its cheek against Qiao Sang's.
Qiao Sang chuckled.
A real golden glove was a bit expensive, but a gold-plated one wasn't!
Ghost-type pets have no physical bodies, but they can condense a body through energy.
In the courtyard.
Qiao Sang instructed, "To practice Breaking Tiles, you need to keep your hands together and straight, concentrating energy and strength in your hand. When you strike, your hand must be high to maximize the power."
"Xun!"
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost nodded with a serious expression.
Qiao Sang continued, "When practicing, you must release the power in one burst and strike down quickly. Your waist strength, palm strength, and arm strength must coordinate fully."
"Xun..."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost looked down at itself.
*Do I have a waist?*
Qiao Sang followed its gaze downward, her mouth twitching. She added, "What I just said was all from the internet, describing the training method for Fighting-type pets. For us, it's more or less the same; just concentrate all your body's strength into your hand."
"Xun!"
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost nodded, indicating it understood.
Then, it looked at a stone the size of an egg not far away with a determined gaze, teleported directly over, and struck.
"Xun!!"
The next second, little Treasure Hunter Ghost raised its reddened short claw, eyes brimming with tears.
The stone was completely unscathed.
Qiao Sang: "..."
Qiao Sang had a bit of a headache. To be honest, she had zero hope of little Treasure Hunter Ghost learning Breaking Tiles. Ghost-type pets were not built for physical attacks, but since the name was already registered, they had to practice.
She couldn't let it go up there and fail to break a single tile; that would be too embarrassing.
Qiao Sang also had other considerations for letting little Treasure Hunter Ghost participate in Bare-Handed Tile Breaking.
Although the main reason was that little Treasure Hunter Ghost wanted to join, thinking about it carefully, practicing Breaking Tiles was also a form of exercise for it.
Since little Treasure Hunter Ghost wanted to train itself, its focus would be different from the start.
Secondly, even if it couldn't learn Breaking Tiles, its courage, ability to take hits, and explosive power would all be correspondingly improved during the process of practicing the move.
This was the primary reason why this sport existed in Beast Master colleges.
"Practicing directly with stones definitely won't work. I'll buy a box of tiles online for you to practice with," Qiao Sang said.
Stones were much harder to break than tiles; starting with stones would absolutely crush little Treasure Hunter Ghost's confidence and enthusiasm.
"Xun..."
Little Treasure Hunter Ghost nodded tearfully.
There were still 25 days until the sports meet began, so Qiao Sang wasn't in a rush to have little Treasure Hunter Ghost practice Breaking Tiles immediately. Currently, little Treasure Hunter Ghost's main training was to upgrade Hypnosis to the Secret Art level as quickly as possible to prepare for evolution.
(End of Chapter)