The physical examination area in the Beast Taming Center was vast; even with people from every beast taming high school in Hanggang City filling the space, there was still plenty of open ground.
At this moment, various voices echoed through the examination hall.
"Holy crap, we got here so early and there are still this many people!"
"I'm used to it. It was the same last year."
"I really can't stand the school. Why do they insist on scheduling the exams for everyone at the same time? They could have notified us sooner."
"I don't think that's something the school can decide."
"Look, the people from Shengshui High have arrived."
A glance around revealed that everyone in the hall was wearing a school uniform, though the styles and colors varied, making it easy to tell who belonged to which school.
At times like this, those whose uniforms were ugly or whose schools were ranked lower kept their mouths shut, but felt a certain sense of inferiority in their hearts.
The students from Shengshui High became the center of attention.
High schoolers are usually still naive; whatever emotions they feel are written all over their faces.
As students of the top-ranked beast taming high school in Hanggang City, they might not seem different from ordinary students while at school, but the moment they stepped outside, their pride was on full display.
Even Jin Feifan straightened his back a bit.
"I heard there's a tenth-grader at Shengshui High who made it into the twelfth-grade school team. I wonder if it's true."
"I heard it too. Apparently, it's a Flame Listening Hound tamer."
"Right, right, right! I know too! It's a girl, and she has another Treasure-Hunting Demon! And she supposedly has a third pet beast!"
"You heard that too? Where did you hear it?"
"On the general high school forum. I paid 68 Alliance Coins for the info."
"What?! 68! I paid 666!"
At that moment, a "big sucker" who had spent 1,000 Alliance Coins checked the time on his phone and turned to Qiao Sang, saying, "It should be dinner time by the time the check-up is over. Let's go eat together later; my treat."
Qiao Sang, her conscience still intact, said, "No need. You spent 1,000 just for news about me; let me treat you instead."
Xu Yixuan refused, "It's only 1,000. How much is that, really? Don't let it weigh on you."
*If you knew that 1,000 went into my pocket, I wonder if you'd still say that...* A look of helplessness appeared on Qiao Sang's face. "If you're that insistent, then I want to eat at that Wanhe Eatery on Qiaopu Road."
"Deal!" Xu Yixuan agreed readily.
...
Pet beast examinations were conducted in groups of five, and each beast had to be accompanied by its tamer.
On one hand, it was easier for the pet beasts to cooperate with their tamers present; on the other, it was to prevent proxy examinations.
Within the same species, it was not uncommon for pet beasts to look similar.
Those who weren't familiar with the beasts couldn't tell them apart based solely on the photos in the information cards.
This provided a loophole for those with ulterior motives, who would rent a beast that looked like their own to impersonate it during the exam.
After such cases of proxy exams occurred, the authorities quickly implemented a countermeasure.
The tamers had to accompany their beasts to the examination site and summon them in front of the doctor.
People entered one by one, and everything went smoothly, with no proxy scams or drug-use scandals cropping up.
At 10:15, it was finally Qiao Sang's turn.
Inside the examination room.
"You may summon now," the doctor said.
In the next second, a row of star arrays lit up, among which one green array was particularly striking.
Everyone's gaze froze on the pet beast in the center.
A boy standing at the edge couldn't help himself and blurted out, "Holy shit! Green?!"
Even among twelfth-graders, there probably weren't many like that in the whole country!
He had never felt a green star array look so dazzling!
Another boy exclaimed, "Damn! A Flame Listening Hound?!"
"Ya."
Ya Bao was already used to such looks. It surveyed the surroundings and then turned to bark at its tamer.
Qiao Sang's lip twitched. Just as she was about to speak, the invisible Little Treasure-Hunter, with perfect timing, removed its ring and pulled out a pair of futuristic sunglasses from within.
In everyone's sight, a pair of black sunglasses appeared out of thin air.
Qiao Sang took the sunglasses and handed them to Ya Bao.
Ya Bao didn't use its paws to take them; instead, it used telekinesis to put them on in an exceptionally pretentious manner.
The entire room suddenly fell silent.
After a few seconds, the doctor was the first to break the silence: "Take off the sunglasses. I need to check the eyes in a moment."
Qiao Sang: "..."
Ya Bao: "..."
The examination process was quick. Aside from the doctor's close-up inspection, the pet beasts were sent into a space-pod scanner.
This space-pod scanner could complete almost all tests, including bone, muscle, and blood analysis. It could detect potential hidden risks and lesions early on and monitor and evaluate items not included in routine checks.
It was considered one of the most advanced pieces of examination equipment currently available.
Normally, a pet beast's exam would take ten minutes at most, but in Qiao Sang's case, the pre-scan inspection alone took ten minutes.
"Doctor, is there something wrong?" Qiao Sang asked worriedly, seeing the doctor stare at Ya Bao for a long time without speaking.
"Ya..."
Ya Bao's body tensed, wearing a nervous expression.
"It's nothing. It's just my first time seeing a Flame Listening Hound, so I couldn't help but look a bit longer," the doctor reassured her.
Qiao Sang: "#%￥&!"
Compared to Qiao Sang's irritability, Ya Bao seemed much more composed.
"Ya..."
*So it's just another fellow captivated by my handsome appearance.*
The few people who had already finished their exams didn't choose to leave, but instead watched silently from the side.
They had already realized.
If there were no surprises, the girl before them who had contracted a Flame Listening Hound was the one from the trending thread on the forum. That post was actually true! This was a golden opportunity to gather intelligence!
Even if they couldn't beat the people from Shengshui High, selling intelligence to others was still a business opportunity!
Just then, the doctor looked up and said, "Those of you who are finished, get out. Don't take up space here."
Everyone: "..."
The group pushed the door open and left reluctantly, while Qiao Sang didn't exit until nearly half an hour after them.
As soon as she stepped out, she found the people from Shengshui High waiting for her.
"Why did you take so long to come out? I've been waiting for ages!" Xu Yixuan asked as she stepped forward. Behind her were all the school team members from Shengshui High who had come for the exam, including Wang Yao.
"Are you all finished?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Yeah."
"We were just waiting for you."
"We were done long ago."
"Of course. Why were you so slow? You didn't find some kind of illness, did you?"
Everyone chimed in.
There was more than one examination room in the center. During Qiao Sang's exam, the rest of the Shengshui High students had already finished.
Qiao Sang's head throbbed just thinking about the scene in the examination room.
The doctor hadn't just spent ages checking Ya Bao; he had also spent a long time checking Little Treasure-Hunter and Lu Bao.
Especially when checking Lu Bao—his eyes were like lasers.
If she hadn't eventually had Lu Bao use Healing Soundwaves, she didn't know when they would have been allowed to leave.
"Nothing, the doctor just got carried away with the exam," Qiao Sang said.
Everyone: "???"
That night, a post appeared on the homepage of the Zhejiang Province High School General Forum.
#Shock! The news is actually true! The true identity of the new member of the Shengshui High twelfth-grade school team revealed!#
Upon clicking, there was a side-profile photo of a girl with a ponytail, with the examination room as the background.
Sitting in front of her computer, Qiao Sang looked at her photo and sighed inwardly: *I have to say, it's actually a pretty good shot...*
After browsing the forum for a while, Qiao Sang suddenly remembered something and picked up her phone to dial a number.
Soon, the call connected.
"Hello, Mom. I have a competition tomorrow."
(End of Chapter)