Little Xunbao's gaze was determined, and a thick, white energy instantly condensed upon its raised right paw.
"Bang!"
As the right paw descended, the tiles split cleanly in two.
"Xun!!"
Looking at the tiles shattered across the ground, Little Xunbao imitated the fighting-type champions it had seen in videos, raising both paws high and letting out a victor's cry.
The surroundings fell eerily silent for a moment, then erupted into passionate cheers, as if the first-place winner had already been decided.
"Holy crap! Tile breaking! It really is tile breaking!"
"Who recorded a video just now! Quick, send me a copy!"
"This is too damn scary. How on earth did a Ghost-type pet learn a Fighting-type skill? I thought that news was a scam."
"Although this Treasure Demon looks a bit malnourished in size, its strength is far greater than a normal Treasure Demon."
"That shouldn't be right. The news said that when Qiao Sang's Treasure Demon was still a Treasure Ghost, its tile breaking had already reached the peak of perfection, and it could easily crush seniors. But looking at the force of that break just now, the proficiency doesn't seem particularly high."
"What do you know? Who puts out all their strength right from the start? Great God Qiao must have taught the Treasure Demon about power control."
"That makes a lot of sense!"
"...Tile breaking." Liu Qijia simply could not believe his eyes.
As a Beast Tamer contracted to a Fighting-type pet, he had not believed from the start that Qiao Sang's Treasure Demon could use the tile breaking skill.
Tile breaking required precise force; the body's strength had to be naturally unified. Whether it was grip strength, wrist strength, the strength of the limbs supporting the whole body, or explosive power, one had to train to a certain level to possibly learn this skill.
Ghost-type pets had no muscles; they relied on energy even to condense a physical form. Given their physical constitution, it was fundamentally impossible for them to learn Fighting-type skills.
But this conviction was shattered in an instant the moment the Treasure Demon performed the tile break.
Liu Qijia stared dazed at the Treasure Demon, which was currently raising its short paws in celebration, completely failing to notice the Brave-Strength Monkey beside the Treasure Demon that had looked at him several times.
"Brave-Strength..."
Seeing that its Beast Tamer kept staring at the little runt beside it and didn't notice it at all, the Brave-Strength Monkey immediately wore a dissatisfied expression.
"Tweet!"
The teacher acting as the referee blew the whistle again.
After the first round of screening, Li Jiang's Sand-Paddle Rat from Class 2 and Zhao Fangrui's Water-Ring Carp from Class 8 were eliminated. Of the remaining eleven competing pets, all except Little Xunbao were muscular Fighting-type pets.
"Treasure Demon! Go for it!"
"Treasure Demon! I love you!"
"Go Class 1! Go Qiao Sang! Go Treasure Demon!"
"Ya ya! Ya ya!"
"Brave-Strength..."
Hearing the surrounding cheers for the little runt, two plumes of air snorted from the Brave-Strength Monkey's nostrils. Its expression became serious, and it struck down at the tiles in front of it as if looking at an enemy.
"Bang!" The tiles shattered upon impact.
"Brave-Strength!" The Brave-Strength Monkey raised its arm and shouted in celebration.
Just as it prepared to accept the cheers of others, a series of voices entered its ears.
"Treasure Demon is so amazing!"
"Man, look at the Treasure Demon, it broke them so effortlessly."
"That was 15 tiles just now, right? The Treasure Demon looks like it didn't feel any pressure at all. Awesome."
"Treasure Demon is mighty!"
"Ya ya!"
"Brave-Strength!"
Seeing that not a single person noticed it, the Brave-Strength Monkey turned its head and gave a huffy shout at Little Xunbao.
"Xun?"
Little Xunbao, who was happily celebrating, blinked its eyes innocently.
"Brave-Strength!"
The Brave-Strength Monkey wore an angry expression, indicating that Little Xunbao shouldn't get too ahead of itself; first place belonged to it.
"Xun."
Receiving the other's hostility, Little Xunbao wore an expression of sudden realization. It calmly patted the Brave-Strength Monkey's shoulder in consolation.
*Don't be angry, I'll let you have first place next time; this time, first place can only be mine.*
"Brave-Strength!!" The Brave-Strength Monkey went completely frantic.
The following rounds of bare-handed tile breaking were almost entirely a performance by Little Xunbao and the Brave-Strength Monkey.
When the tiles were increased to 20 in the third round, several competing pets were eliminated one after another. By the fifth round, only Little Xunbao and the Brave-Strength Monkey remained.
It was now the eighth round.
The tiles had increased to 35.
"Brave-Strength!" The Brave-Strength Monkey was hyped up, its emotions at an extreme peak.
"Xun..."
Little Xunbao, however, hesitated as it looked at the stack of tiles in front of it, which was almost as tall as itself.
It had never broken this many tiles at once. Would it work...
"Xun..."
Little Xunbao unconsciously looked toward its Beast Tamer.
Noticing Little Xunbao looking over, Qiao Sang immediately shouted loudly, "Go for it! You're only one step away from the golden glove!"
After saying this, she paused and corrected herself loudly, "You're only one step away from a pure gold glove!"
"Xun!"
Little Xunbao's gaze instantly became resolute, its fighting spirit reignited.
Liu Qijia: "..."
He felt a bit of chest pain. Hearing Qiao Sang's shout and the Treasure Demon's change in attitude, what else was there to understand?
So the golden glove was the incentive used for the Treasure Demon.
If the Treasure Demon really won because of the golden glove, wouldn't he be a massive sucker...
"Dali! Go for it!" Liu Qijia shouted loudly.
"Brave-Strength..." The hyped-up Brave-Strength Monkey froze for a moment upon hearing its Beast Tamer's voice, and its eyes involuntarily filled with tears.
It had finally been noticed!
"Tweet!"
At that moment, the whistle blew.
"Xun!"
"Brave-Strength!"
Little Xunbao and the Brave-Strength Monkey condensed the energy within their bodies at the same time, concentrating all their power into their paws.
This time, Little Xunbao switched to its left paw.
"Bang!"
Tiles shattered everywhere.
The teacher in charge of refereeing stepped forward to check. After clearing away the remaining fragments bit by bit, he looked down, recorded the result, and announced: "Treasure Demon, 35 tiles; Brave-Strength Monkey, 34 tiles."
"Xun?" Little Xunbao blinked, not reacting for a moment as to who had won.
Qiao Sang ran over and scooped Little Xunbao into her arms, excitedly crying, "Little Xunbao! We won!"
Normally, Qiao Sang wouldn't be this excited about first place in a sports meet event; such competitions were about participation, and winning was just a matter of honor. But it was different when the stake for victory was a golden glove.
Was that a golden glove? No, that was blatant cash!
"Xun!"
Hearing that it had won, Little Xunbao excitedly rubbed its head against its Beast Tamer's cheek.
The surrounding students erupted in cheers.
This high school freshman bare-handed tile breaking competition was both unexpected and not unexpected.
Regardless of how the rumors had spread, the feeling of seeing a Ghost-type pet use a Fighting-type skill with one's own eyes was certainly different.
Especially when the Treasure Demon's tiny frame stood alongside a group of muscular Fighting-type pets; while they said the Treasure Demon could win, in their hearts, they always felt it was unreliable.
Consequently, when it actually won in the end, there was a sense of surprise and a unique kind of excitement.
"Brave-Strength..."
The Brave-Strength Monkey lowered its head dejectedly.
Liu Qijia walked over and patted its head in consolation, "You did great. During normal practice, you could only break 32 at most; you improved by two this time."
"Brave-Strength..."
Qiao Sang walked over and watched Liu Qijia comforting the Brave-Strength Monkey without saying anything.
Feeling Qiao Sang's intense gaze, Liu Qijia scratched his hair and asked, "What size golden glove do you want?"
Qiao Sang smiled and held out her own hand, saying, "One about my size will do."
"Xun?!" Little Xunbao's eyes widened.
Wasn't the golden glove for it?!
Qiao Sang glanced at Little Xunbao's paw, which wasn't even half the size of her palm, and said solemnly, "I don't want someone else to buy your golden glove; I want to buy it for you myself."
"Xun~"
Little Xunbao happily rubbed its head against its Beast Tamer's cheek.
Liu Qijia: "..."
After Liu Qijia left, Qiao Sang walked toward the finish line of the 400-meter hurdles.
After a few steps, a familiar voice came from behind her: "Qiao Sang, congratulations."
Qiao Sang turned around to look.
It was Shi Gaofeng.
(End of Chapter)