As soon as the words fell, the five heads sitting in front turned in unison.
Their gaze was a mix of curiosity and a hint of hostility.
After all, everyone present knew of Qiao Sang's existence and knew that she was being parachuted in to participate in the national campus beast-taming league for the senior year bracket.
The number of participants for each school's grade level was fixed. If someone was added, naturally, someone else had to be pushed out.
Three of these five were in the team battle group, so Qiao Sang's arrival didn't affect them directly.
However, since they were all seniors and occasionally trained with the battle group members, their relationships were naturally close, creating a sense of shared grievance.
Someone like Xu Yixuan was confident she wouldn't be the one kicked out, so her mindset was rock solid; this was why Sun Boyi had asked her to go pick up Qiao Sang.
"Hello, Teacher Sun," Qiao Sang greeted.
It wasn't that she knew Sun Boyi, but the vice-principal had mentioned that the head coach of the senior school team was the teacher previously in charge of special admissions, and the face matched.
Sun Boyi approached with long strides and said, "The vice-principal should have told you about the situation of our senior school team."
Qiao Sang nodded with an "mm."
"To have three pets at your age, two of which have reached the intermediate level, indeed puts you among the top tier of rookie beast-tamers globally." Sun Boyi shifted his tone. "However, I value fairness and justice here; everything depends on strength."
"This is already the third national campus beast-taming league for your seniors. In terms of battle experience and understanding of opponents, they definitely have the advantage over you."
"Wait until you rotate battles with them, following the rules of the national campus beast-taming league."
"If you can win against any one of them, I will naturally welcome you with open arms to participate in the senior bracket. But if you lose, even if it's a request from the vice-principal, I cannot agree to let you represent the senior bracket in the competition."
"Of course, if you only wish to train with the senior school team without competing, I naturally won't say anything."
It was true that Qiao Sang was a freak of nature, but competitions were all about winning.
Setting aside the national level, just looking at Hanggang City, students participating in the senior bracket generally possessed at least two intermediate pets and had undergone extensive coordinated training.
Sun Boyi belonged to the more rational camp.
When the vice-principal proposed that Qiao Sang participate in the senior bracket, his first internal reaction had been to refuse.
This student might achieve excellent results in the freshman or sophomore brackets, but in the senior bracket, it was very precarious.
After all, the senior bracket primarily looked at actual combat experience.
This experience required long-term accumulation; it wasn't as simple as having the pet levels and quantity meet the requirements.
Furthermore, almost all the senior participants from every school in Hanggang City had risen through the ranks since their freshman year. They were old rivals who understood each other's pets well—something Qiao Sang lacked.
However, since this was a request from the vice-principal, he couldn't refuse outright.
But if Qiao Sang lost, he would have a legitimate reason to decline.
Sun Boyi didn't think she would refuse. Geniuses were generally confident, even arrogant, about their strength, let alone a monster like Qiao Sang.
Qiao Sang indeed did not refuse. She just paused for a moment and corrected him: "All three of my pets have reached the intermediate level."
As soon as these words came out, the senior members who had been watching collectively froze.
Sun Boyi asked blankly, "All three of your pets evolved to intermediate?"
"Yes," Qiao Sang replied.
Sun Boyi fell silent for over ten seconds to digest the news, then raised his voice and asked again
"All three of your pets really evolved to intermediate?"
"Yes," Qiao Sang nodded.
Sun Boyi fell silent again.
After a long while, he said seriously, "There's only about a month left until the national campus beast-taming league. Let's hurry to training."
Qiao Sang raised an eyebrow and asked, "Didn't you say we'd rotate battles first to see if I have the qualification to compete?"
"Two intermediate pets would require a test, but with three intermediate pets, there's no need to test," Sun Boyi said solemnly.
For the senior bracket, if Qiao Sang's third pet were primary level, it would be basically the same as having none—completely useless.
But if the third pet was also intermediate, the nature of the situation changed entirely!
One had to realize that students with three intermediate pets in the national senior bracket were few and far between.
With three intermediate pets, even if an opponent studied you day and night, they might not be able to devise a corresponding counter-strategy.
Xu Yixuan stood by, completely bewildered. Just as she thought Qiao Sang's participation in the senior bracket was officially settled, a voice rang out.
"I think for the sake of fairness, we must compete," Qiao Sang said with an air of righteousness.
What a joke—those were points! How could she not compete!
Besides, the fighting spirit is different when it's a regular training match versus a match where losing means becoming a substitute.
Yabao hadn't had a satisfying fight in a long time.
She couldn't let every battle be like fighting small mobs in a game to grind experience; that would be completely boring.
Sun Boyi stared at Qiao Sang for a moment and smiled, "Fine, we'll compete!"
Having said that, he turned to the few people who were still frozen and asked, "Who's going first?"
The two from the senior battle group snapped back to reality and looked at each other. One of them—a boy with thick eyebrows, squinty eyes, and a body as round as a ball—raised his hand and volunteered, "I'll do it!"
He Datao moved his bulky frame to the center of the training field.
Although he was stunned to hear that all three of Qiao Sang's pets were intermediate, the rules for the senior national campus beast-taming league were 2v2.
Qiao Sang was a celebrity in the school; almost everyone knew the data on two of her pets, excluding the third.
However, Qiao Sang certainly didn't know his pet's information yet.
This was the advantage.
Once Qiao Sang stood firm on the other side of the training field, Sun Boyi spoke
"According to the rules of the national campus beast-taming league, the pets used must be registered. A pet is considered to have lost its qualification to continue if it is knocked out of the field or voluntarily crosses the boundary."
"A side cannot actively switch pets until their current pet loses consciousness."
"Pets must be summoned simultaneously; there shall be no time gap. During the battle, no auxiliary items related to pets may be used."
"The number of pets used in the senior bracket is two. During the battle..."
The members of the senior school team could practically recite the rules backward; Sun Boyyi was clearly explaining them for Qiao Sang's benefit.
"What pets do you think He Datao and Qiao Sang will send out?" Xu Yixuan asked as she approached the other four.
These four knew exactly what kind of person Xu Yixuan was, so they didn't speak.
Sure enough, Xu Yixuan continued
"You don't have to answer, let me guess."
"I think Qiao Sang will send out the Flame Listening Hound; it's a safe bet," Xu Yixuan analyzed. "The first contracted pet is usually the strongest. Remember during the freshman strength demonstration, her Flame Listening Hound swept the field? It not only has the Blazing Fire trait but also knows Fire Star Rain. If she sends it out, the win rate is very high."
"He Datao must be thinking the same thing, so I think he'll send out the Molten Burst Gorilla. His Molten Burst Gorilla has the Fire Attraction trait, which is a perfect counter to the Flame Listening Hound."
The four listening beside her didn't speak, but internally, they agreed.
Although Xu Yixuan was a bit wordy, it had to be admitted that she sometimes made a lot of sense.
"Both sides, please summon your pets simultaneously," Sun Boyi followed the procedure of the national campus beast-taming league.
A green star array and a grey star array lit up at the same time.
A red pet and a pale blue pet appeared in everyone's sight.
"Baobao!"
"Lu."
Xu Yixuan was stunned for a moment, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Guessed wrong..."
(End of Chapter)