After leaving the Kainan Pet Battle Arena, Qiao Sang visited the largest jewelry store in Kainan City.
Having experienced the sensation of suddenly appearing in the middle of the road last time, she obediently took a taxi to her destination.
The jewelry store didn't have any so-called "diamond gloves," but money is a wonderful thing; as long as you have money, what doesn't exist can be made to exist.
After the staff measured the size of little Xunbao's paws, they told her to come back in three days to collect them.
Because today's matches had ended after only half a day, Qiao Sang remembered this matter while looking at the still-early sky.
As she stepped out of the jewelry store, almost every passerby turned their head to look and gossip.
It wasn't that the passersby recognized Qiao Sang as the "strongest high school student in history" who had topped the trending searches a few days ago, but rather that the Treasure-Hunting Demon held in the girl's arms was simply too eye-catching.
It was a Treasure-Hunting Demon smaller than average, and it not only had dyed hair but also wore colored contact lenses.
Most importantly, its paws were adorned with gloves encrusted with diamonds!
With this entire look, it practically blinded everyone's eyes.
Feeling the gazes of the passersby, Qiao Sang couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to turn invisible?"
"Xun xun~"
Little Xunbao raised both paws high, admiring its gloves in the sunlight, and let out a joyful cry.
If it stayed invisible, people wouldn't be able to see how well these gloves matched it~
Qiao Sang: "..."
Good grief, she hadn't anticipated this line of thinking from little Xunbao.
Qiao Sang then thought of something and suddenly became a bit worried.
Little Xunbao isn't planning to wear these gloves and stay visible from now on, is it...
...
The next morning.
The Rayleigh Hotel.
After eating breakfast, Qiao Sang headed downstairs with Yabao and little Xunbao.
Upon reaching the first-floor lobby, she went to the front desk and said, "There's no need to clean the room today."
The Rayleigh Hotel had only one presidential suite, and almost all the staff recognized this guest who had stayed for several days.
The receptionist naturally recognized the girl before her and quickly agreed.
As the girl turned to walk toward the door, the two receptionists immediately whipped out their phones and frantically took photos of the backs of the girl and her two pets.
"My god, a Blazing Star Hound! No matter how many times I see it, it's just so cool!" the short-haired receptionist who had just served Qiao Sang exclaimed excitedly.
Ever since the trending search about the strongest high school student came out, the fact that the evolved form of the Flame-Listening Hound was called the Blazing Star Hound had also been made public.
"This shift swap was totally worth it!" the receptionist beside her said excitedly, though her dark circles were severe despite her full makeup.
"You just finished the night shift yesterday and you're back for the morning shift; are you okay?" the short-haired receptionist asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Seeing the girl disappear through the doors, the receptionist with the dark circles put away her phone and waved her hand. "I specifically asked; the provincial elimination rounds of the National Campus Pet League end today. If I hadn't swapped shifts, I wouldn't have had the chance to see a Blazing Star Hound with my own eyes."
"Why do you think she said not to clean the room today?" the short-haired receptionist suddenly asked, thinking of something.
"How should I know," the dark-circled receptionist replied with a yawn.
If someone were to enter the presidential suite right now, they would find dozens of Blazing Star Hounds staying in the room with their eyes closed, their entire bodies glowing with blue light as they practiced meditation.
...
Kainan Pet Battle Arena.
"Still there?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Ya!" Yabao nodded excitedly.
The corners of Qiao Sang's mouth curled up. It seemed that after evolving, Yabao's control distance for its clones had increased; at least the distance from here to the Rayleigh Hotel was no problem.
In the future, she would let Yabao use clones to practice meditation. Training other skills was fine, but meditation was a skill that required staying perfectly still to practice, and Yabao was too restless.
During the past few days of meditation training, it would lose focus after a short while and couldn't persist for long. However, if the main body controlled a clone to practice meditation, this problem wouldn't occur.
*Yes, I really am quite resourceful...* Qiao Sang silently gave herself a thumbs-up.
"Ya..."
Yabao's expression gradually became serious.
To control a distant clone, the main body had to remain attentive at all times.
Beside her, Xu Yixuan leaned in and asked, "Where did you buy the Treasure-Hunting Demon's gloves? They look pretty cute; I'm going to get a pair for my Dream-Leading Spirit too."
Qiao Sang answered, "Yuan Huang Jewelry on Changxing Street. It's a ten-minute taxi ride."
Xu Yixuan paused. "A jewelry store? Don't tell me the diamonds on those are real."
Qiao Sang looked at Xu Yixuan. "Of course they're real. Do I look like the kind of person who buys fakes?"
This single sentence left Xu Yixuan stunned. She indeed didn't look like that, but real diamonds? Was she that loaded?!
"Xun~" Hearing the conversation, little Xunbao casually extended a diamond-encrusted paw and swept its hair back from front to back.
The light refracting from the diamonds in the sunlight left Xu Yixuan dazed, with only one thought in her mind: *Holy crap, so sparkly, they really are real diamonds!*
...
Now, only five contestants remained.
According to the rules, one person would receive a bye and advance directly, while the remaining four would be paired by the system. The two winners would then compete with the person who received the bye for the top three rankings.
At times like this, choosing the person for the bye was particularly difficult.
If multiple parties raised objections and a consensus couldn't be reached, a single round-robin tournament would be used, with the top three determined by points.
Fortunately, there was always one person whose strength was so outstanding that everyone was satisfied.
In the previous two sessions, that person was Ding Yanjing; in this session, it was Qiao Sang.
Once the person for the bye was selected, the match list was determined by the system.
[Litan Pet High School, Wang Rui VS Litan Pet High School, Li Zonglin]
[Lianyu Pet Affiliated High School, Huang Kaijun VS Shengshui Middle School, Xu Yixuan]
As soon as this match list appeared, Huang Renbiao, sitting in the leadership area, visibly darkened in expression.
Wang Weidou said with a beaming smile, "Principal Huang, it seems your school's luck is a bit poor this time."
After speaking, he glanced to the side. "Why hasn't your school's Coach Zhang shown up these past two days?"
Hearing this, Huang Renbiao remembered something, and his face darkened further. "He has family matters; I let him go back first."
*Letting the coach go back during such an important competition, something is off...* Just as the thought occurred to Wang Weidou, perfunctory cheers erupted from the audience, and his attention immediately shifted to the two contestants entering the stage.
Soon, through the battles, the advancing contestants were selected.
The man with a Broad-Winged Flying Squirrel perched on his shoulder announced loudly, "The contestants entering the next round are: Wang Rui from Litan Pet High School, Xu Yixuan from Shengshui Middle School, and Qiao Sang from Shengshui Middle School."
"The matches will be held at 2:00 PM."
...
11:36 AM.
The restaurant on the top floor of the Shengcheng Hotel.
The smile on Wang Weidou's face was incredibly brilliant. "You've all done great. Eat plenty at lunch and strive for the top two spots!"
These words were mainly directed at Xu Yixuan. Qiao Sang getting first place was a certainty, but for Xu Yixuan to get second was a bit uncertain.
Sun Boyi knew the principal was a bit over-excited. He looked at Xu Yixuan and said solemnly
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just perform at your normal level. Either way, the top three can enter the regional qualifiers."
According to the regulations, the top three contestants in the province could advance to the higher-level regional qualifiers.
Xu Yixuan took a sip of fresh coconut juice and said seriously, "I will work hard!"
*This dish is not bad...* Qiao Sang took a bite of food and nodded silently.
...
Exactly 2:00 PM.
Three photos on the virtual screen shifted continuously. When they stopped, the entire venue cheered.
"Shengshui Middle School, Qiao Sang; Litan Pet High School, Wang Rui. Please take the stage."