On the way home, Qiao Sang hummed a song in a great mood.
The feeling of not having to worry about money was simply fantastic.
After making a phone call to tell her mother that the house had been purchased, Qiao Sang looked at Little Treasure with high expectations and said, "You need to practice Space Shift properly."
She was very satisfied with the house's size, privacy, and supporting facilities; however, as her mother had mentioned, it was too far from school.
Fortunately, Little Treasure knew Space Shift. As long as this skill reached a certain level of proficiency, distance would no longer be an issue... Qiao Sang envisioned a beautiful future in her mind.
"Xun xun!"
Hearing her Beast Tamer's words, Little Treasure immediately floated to the side and let out a cry, signaling for her to stop.
"What is it?" Qiao Sang stopped and asked.
"Xun~"
Little Treasure didn't answer immediately. Instead, it covered its mouth and giggled, then reached into its ring, rummaged around, and pulled out an ant.
Qiao Sang and Ya Bao stared at the ant in Little Treasure's paw, bewildered.
The ant seemed to have gone through something; it remained motionless in Little Treasure's paw, looking as if it had completely surrendered to its fate.
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure wore an expression that said "watch this," then raised a short toe on its other paw and tapped the ant. Immediately, the ant vanished without a trace.
"Ya ya!" Ya Bao's eyes widened.
Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment, then something occurred to her. Her consciousness entered the Beast Codex, and her gaze locked onto a specific line
【Space Shift (Proficient 288/500) +】
288... Qiao Sang's heart inevitably accelerated.
Because Little Treasure and Lu Bao mostly trained late at night, her habit of checking the Beast Codex had become checking it once before bed and once upon waking.
She clearly remembered that when she checked this morning, Little Treasure's Space Shift data should have only been 287.
Qiao Sang pondered; so, what Little Treasure had just performed on the ant was Space Shift.
Good heavens, why hadn't she thought of this before... This skill didn't necessarily require the pet casting it to move along; it could be used to teleport other creatures or objects independently.
If that were the case, training efficiency could be increased manifold!
Little Treasure is amazing, to have thought of this... Qiao Sang's consciousness exited the Beast Codex. Looking at Little Treasure, she praised, "Smart!"
"Xun~"
Little Treasure wore an expression that said "this is nothing."
"How did you think of using it this way?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure let out a cry, explaining that it discovered this while playing with ants out of boredom at night.
"Ya ya!"
Before Qiao Sang could say anything, Ya Bao in her arms looked excited, indicating that it wanted to play too.
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure nodded and immediately floated over, preparing to place its paw on Ya Bao.
This isn't playing; this is being played with... Qiao Sang timely pulled Ya Bao back a step and stopped it
"No, Little Treasure's Space Shift cannot pinpoint locations accurately yet. What if you're teleported into some random corner and can't get back?"
"Ya ya!"
Hearing its Beast Tamer's words, Ya Bao's body stiffened, and it hurriedly shook its head violently.
Can't get back? That won't do!
It didn't want to play anymore!
"Xun..."
"Xun xun!"
Little Treasure sheepishly retracted its paw, then patted its chest, guaranteeing that it would master the skill quickly and take Big Brother Ya Bao to play then.
"Ya."
Ya Bao thought about it and nodded in agreement.
...
Chang'an Road.
Tianjing Garden, No. 1705.
Rarely, Little Treasure floated to the courtyard as soon as it returned to begin Space Shift training.
Ya Bao and Lu Bao were as hardworking as ever.
Sitting on the living room sofa, Qiao Sang felt very gratified watching the three little ones training in the courtyard.
After watching for a while, she picked up her phone; the notifications showed 99+.
Qiao Sang opened them; most were messages of congratulations, which she replied to one by one.
At that moment, the topmost latest message box changed to the Grade 12 School Team group.
As a member of the Grade 12 School Team, Qiao Sang immediately clicked to read.
【Xu Yixuan: This is just too unlucky! For this regional competition, the group assigned to four regions together actually includes our Yuhua region!】
【He Datao: I'm fearless since I didn't make it into the regionals.】
【Zhang Dezhou: It's just four regions competing together, what's there to fear? And you were the one always bragging about making it to the nationals.】
【Xu Yixuan: You admitted it was bragging.】
【Zhang Dezhou:...】
【He Datao: You guys are going to the Guwu region to compete this time, right? The Guwu region, huh? I'd actually quite like to go there.】
【Xu Yixuan: I heard that originally the Guwu region wasn't assigned to compete together, but the people over there strongly demanded to compete with our Yuhua region. Then, somehow, the Guwu region actually got added in.】
【He Datao: Could it be for Great God Qiao's Ice Lugia?】
【Xu Yixuan: Congratulations, you guessed right! I specifically checked the news from the Guwu region; it said over a million people signed a joint letter demanding that this regional competition be held in the Guwu region just so they could see Ice Lugia.】
【Zhang Dezhou: It's just an Ice Lugia, is it really that exaggerated?】
【He Datao: Imagine Ice Lugia as the Gairem of our region.】
Gairem, an endangered pet of the Yuhua region.
【Zhang Dezhou: Good heavens, I understand instantly...】
So, going to the Guwu region for the regional competition wasn't a coincidence... Qiao Sang suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure.
She scrolled up through the chat history and typed a message
【Are we competing as four regions together? Besides the Guwu region, what are the other two?】
【He Datao: Great God Qiao has surfaced!】
【Zhang Dezhou: Qiao the Freak! Oh no! Great God Qiao!】
【Xu Yixuan: There's also the Lianke region and the Xilv region. I just received the news; Teacher Sun should mention it tomorrow.】
【He Datao: Nearly half of Xu Yixuan's family works in the government, so she gets this kind of news faster. It shouldn't be fake.】
So Xu Yixuan was a second-generation official... By the way, what kind of pets are in the Lianke and Xilv regions... Qiao Sang opened a search engine to look up information on those two regions.
...
Soon, the day for school arrived.
Qiao Sang arrived at school.
There were seven days between the end of the provincial competition and the start of the regional competition. However, since the venue was the Guwu region, contestants from other regions would arrive a few days early to avoid competing without enough rest.
Tomorrow was the departure date. Normally, contestants qualified for the regionals wouldn't need to attend class today, but Qiao Sang considered her academic scores and came anyway.
She thought she would be surrounded by people like last time, but she was surprised to find that far from being surrounded, no one even approached her.
Everyone watched from a distance; they clearly looked excited, yet no one came near.
Grade 10, Class 1.
When Qiao Sang stepped into the classroom, everyone fell silent. The effect was even more potent than that of the homeroom teacher.
(End of Chapter)