Lying to me?
Zhang Xueming almost burst out cursing, but remembering that she had been the one to intentionally divert the opponent's attention first, she swallowed her words.
To be honest, if anyone else had claimed during a battle that their pet's skill had reached the Secret Art level, she wouldn't have even blinked.
But Qiao Sang was different.
A monstrous beast tamer who achieved such things at only 15 years old should be arrogant to the core; she shouldn't have stooped to using such linguistic tactics.
Furthermore, according to the data she had collected, the Mars Rain of Qiao Sang's Blazing Star Hound had indeed reached the Secret Art level.
So, when the other girl said it, she had almost believed her.
*This is payback for me diverting her attention just now, huh? People with high talent learn dirty tricks so quickly...* Amidst her mental exhaustion, Zhang Xueming couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
The first match came to an end, and the spectator stands erupted in cheers.
The match hadn't been particularly intense, yet the crowd's emotions were pushed to the absolute limit.
"Ice Lugia is not only gorgeous, but its singing is so beautiful! Ah! I absolutely love it!"
"Did anyone record that part just now? The part where Ice Lugia forced its eyes open despite the sleepiness! So cute!"
"To be fair, Zhang Xueming and Mimi-jing coordinated well. There was a part where she said something to Qiao Sang, and Mimi-jing took the opportunity to cast Healing Wave. You can't do that without chemistry. However, none of that escaped our Ice Lugia's watchful eye! Did you see that Water Tail? That was fast, precise, and ruthless!"
Amidst the noise, Mimi-jing was carried off the field.
...
Front row, Section B of the spectator stands.
"Feifei!"
"Feifei!"
An Emerald Python was coiled around a woman, letting out excited cries toward the field.
The woman wore a medium-length apricot-colored coat. She had striking features and looked to be in her early thirties.
Compared to the frenzied crowd around her, she was relatively calm.
"Thank you for bringing me here," the woman said.
"Don't mention it," Pei Shipan replied indifferently, wearing a baseball cap and a mask. "I happened to have a ticket, and you happened to want to come."
The woman looked at the pale blue figure on the field and sighed with emotion, "It has been raised very well."
Pei Shipan glanced at her and asked, "Did you know long ago that the pet the Emerald Python helped was Ice Lugia?"
Wei Ying remained silent for a few seconds before giving a soft "Mm."
How could she not know? During that period, the Emerald Python acted as if it were perpetually starving every single day.
She had taken the time to follow it once and discovered the Ice Lugia, which was still a Water Lugiana at the time.
She still remembered the feeling of her heart racing wildly back then.
Fearing she would scare the Water Lugiana away, she never revealed herself.
After some time, she discovered that Water Lugiana hated humans, so she dared not appear even more.
It would be a lie to say she didn't have any ideas, but unfortunately, her aptitude was poor; at 33 years old, her Beast Taming Codex only had one page.
If that group of people hadn't appeared later, she thought she might have slowly gotten to know Water Lugiana.
"Do you regret it?" Pei Shipan asked.
Wei Ying knew what he was asking.
Knowing of Ice Lugia's existence, as the Emerald Python's tamer, it was impossible for her not to know that the Emerald Python had helped it sneak onto the plane.
If she hadn't tacitly allowed such behavior, the Emerald Python would not have gone to the Pet Modification Center, and she would not have lost her job.
Wei Ying didn't answer immediately. She cast her gaze toward the cold-faced Ice Lugia.
It was different now. Back then, Water Lugiana's body was tense every day, as if it were covered in thorns. Now, although it still wore an expression that warned strangers to stay away, its posture was soft.
"I did regret it," Wei Ying smiled. "But not anymore."
...
On the field.
Qiao Sang had just started the motion to recall Lugia.
"Lu!"
At that moment, Lugia turned its head and cried out, indicating that it wanted to continue fighting.
*Don't follow Yabao's example! The opponent for the next round is a high-level pet, the Ice Sea Lion. If you go up, you'll just be getting bullied...* Qiao Sang maintained her smile and said
"The opponent for the next round is one level higher than you. It will be hard to fight."
"Lu!"
Lugia let out a serious cry, indicating it understood.
After the match list was released, its tamer had told them about the opponents they would encounter and the things they needed to watch out for; it remembered everything.
It simply wanted to fight someone stronger than itself.
Yabao could do it, so why couldn't it?
*This is a points match; losing one round means a deduction in points...* Qiao Sang sighed, looking at Lugia's determined gaze.
Forget it. The biggest opponents in the group stage were Zhang Xueming and Bai Binbin. She was confident she could use Yabao to win against the Ice Sea Lion in the next round.
As for Bai Binbin, as long as she summoned Yabao from the start, there was a fifty percent chance she would clash with his mid-level pet, the Scythe Meerkat, in the first round.
In the second round, fighting the Super Evil Scorpion, as long as Yabao could find the opportunity to cast Mars Rain, the Super Evil Scorpion would inevitably lose.
In terms of pets, if Zhang Xueming and Bai Binbin fought, it was unlikely anyone would win both rounds.
The probability of her points ranking first was still very high.
Even if her estimation was wrong and she couldn't advance to the national competition as the group leader, she could still participate in the next round of matches and enter the national competition as one of the top forty in the regional qualifiers.
This way, although it would be a bit more troublesome, there would be more battles, and the points would increase accordingly.
Thinking of the points, Qiao Sang hesitated no longer and nodded.
"Alright, I believe in you. Go all out."
"Lu!"
Lugia's eyes lit up, and it felt a surge of emotion. It inexplicably felt a sense of "I can do this, I'm capable," and "She believes I can be like Yabao, I cannot let her down."
As the host, Yi Ao, announced the start of summoning pets for the second round, Lugia took on a serious expression and assumed a posture ready for battle at any moment.
Seeing that Ice Lugia was still on the field, a commotion broke out in the spectator stands.
"I remember Zhang Xueming's second pet is an Ice-type high-level pet, right?"
"You didn't remember wrong. Damn it! Why didn't Qiao Sang recall Ice Lugia?!"
"While I really want to keep looking at Ice Lugia, I don't want to see it get bullied!"
"Qiao Sang!!! The second match has started!!! Quickly recall Ice Lugia!!!"
"I have a bad feeling... Qiao Sang isn't planning to let Ice Lugia wear down the Ice Sea Lion first, is she?"
"There's a one-level difference; wear down what?!"
"Actually, it looked like Qiao Sang made a motion to recall the pet just now, but Ice Lugia turned around and said something, and then Qiao Sang stopped. Could it be that Ice Lugia wants to continue the match itself?"
This sentence was quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise.
"Feifei!"
"Feifei!"
The Emerald Python looked at Lugia—who, despite the massive change in appearance, still bore the traces of its former self—and let out several excited cries.
The friend who hated humans the most was now focusing on a match under the gaze of so many humans; it was truly happy for it.
On the field.
"Ice Sea!"
Accompanied by a powerful cry, a large pet appeared within the gray star array. It had long white fur all over its body, thick eyebrows over pale blue eyes, and a mouth partially covered by several long strips of hair.
(End of Chapter)