“We are speaking from the perspective of selecting talent,” the bald man spoke first, repeating himself
“All the students participating in the competition possess outstanding talent in combat. They have spent the vast majority of their time training their pets for this competition.”
“If they have struggled through countless hardships to reach this stage, only to find that before the battle even begins, they are moved out of the arena via Space Shift, what will people think?”
In the video, a more refined middle-aged man pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and said slowly
“Using Space Shift to move an opponent directly out of the arena is exploiting a loophole in the rules. Since there is a loophole, we should patch it.”
“Exactly,” a slightly younger man echoed. “The rules themselves are constantly being optimized. Selecting the strongest students is the very purpose of our National Campus Beast-Taming League.”
“Furthermore, we aren't looking to ban the Space Shift skill itself, but rather ban contestants from using Space Shift to move their opponents directly out of bounds.”
A white-haired elderly man added
“This rule definitely needs to be added. The only reason it wasn't there before is that we didn't expect a contestant to cultivate a pet's Space Shift to such a degree.”
The other leaders remained silent, offering no opinion for the moment.
*Looks like it's 1 versus 12. What do I do? I'm afraid talking myself blue in the face won't help...* The middle-aged man, whose cheeks sagged from being overweight, furrowed his brow.
Just then, a soft female voice rang out
“I believe Minister Zhou was correct originally. The rules can be changed, but we should wait until the next session. Otherwise, if we change them just because a contestant used this move, it might seem like we are targeting them.”
Minister Zhou was shocked.
He hadn't expected a leader from the Guwu region to speak up for a contestant from their Yuhua region.
*Could it be because of Ice-Kshiru?*
As the contestant with the highest hope of winning the championship for the Yuhua region, Minister Zhou knew Qiao Sang inside and out.
The woman continued
“Space Shift is not a skill that guarantees a 100% successful transfer just by glancing at the opponent. The reason that contestant succeeded was, first, because the opponent at the time was within the range of the Treasure-Hunting Demon's Space Shift and had not maintained a sufficient safety distance; second, because the opponent didn't expect the Treasure-Hunting Demon to use this move and was almost completely unguarded. Otherwise, with Ji Hui Tata's higher level of mental strength and energy, they could have easily used mental interference to prevent the Treasure-Hunting Demon from locking onto coordinates, or used mental defense to reject the Space Shift.”
“Moreover, according to the records, this is the first time this contestant has used Space Shift to move an opponent out of bounds.”
“Ultimately, the Treasure-Hunting Demon is only an Intermediate pet, while the National Tournament primarily focuses on Advanced pets. As long as the contestants participating in the National Tournament are aware of this situation and prepare in advance, I believe that with their talent, they will come up with corresponding countermeasures.”
Minister Zhou's eyes lit up. He stood up and said excitedly
“Well said!”
After his outburst, he seemed to realize it was inappropriate and silently sat back down under everyone's gaze.
“Isn't the Treasure-Hunting Demon a Ghost-type pet?” a gloomy-looking middle-aged man, who had remained silent until now, asked as if he had heard something interesting.
“That contestant's Treasure-Hunting Demon has Psychic-type attributes,” the bald man replied.
Aside from Minister Zhou of the Yuhua region, Minister Lan of the Guwu region, and the bald man—Minister Zhang of the Xilu region—the other leaders were stunned. Clearly, this was the first time they had heard this news.
The meeting had been convened too hastily; they had only received news that a Yuhua region contestant had used Space Shift to move an opponent out of bounds, and knew nothing more.
Everyone present was a leader from the highest authority of their respective regions. They were usually deathly busy; they wouldn't possibly research every single participating contestant.
At most, they would get to know a few contestants once the National Tournament began.
To be honest, aside from the first-place winner, they would probably forget the second-place winner after a while.
After all, the National Campus Beast-Taming League consisted not only of individual combat matches but also team combat matches, individual coordination matches, and team coordination matches.
Aside from the absolute best, it was incredibly difficult for anyone else to garner attention.
The gloomy middle-aged man pondered for a few seconds before offering his view
“Being able to cultivate a Ghost-type pet's Space Shift to this level is also a part of one's strength. Since we want to select the strongest contestants, I believe we should not restrict someone's opportunity to demonstrate their strength.”
Minister Zhou quickly added, “I think Minister Yang makes a very good point!”
He hadn't expected Minister Yang to speak up for their Yuhua region contestant, but on second thought, it wasn't surprising.
Minister Yang was a leader from the Zidya region.
As everyone knew, the Zidya region was the only one among the thirteen regions where Ghost-type pets were popular.
The people of that region had a unique preference for Ghost-type pets. Additionally, since the Zidya region had no front-runners for the championship, whether this rule was added or not had no impact on their region.
“It can't be put that way,” the bald man frowned and said
“Space Shift is different from other skills. This method of winning without fighting must be banned. Otherwise, once this precedent is set, everyone will contract Psychic-type pets in the future. What happens if they ignore everything else and only train this one move?”
“As far as I know, this contestant from the Yuhua region is only 15 years old, yet her Beast-Taming Codex has already been developed to three pages. She currently has two Advanced pets and one Intermediate pet.”
“One Fire-type pet called the Blazing Star Hound has already trained its Meteor Rain to the Secret Art level, and the other, Ice-Kshiru, can bloom dozens of ice flowers with its Ice Flower Seal. The Treasure-Hunting Demon is likely the weakest of her three pets.”
“Since her strength is so great, restricting Space Shift will not cause any problems at all.”
“I fully acknowledge her talent and strength. She can win the respect of others in the National Tournament honorably through her strength. But if she continues to use Space Shift to move opponents directly out of bounds, she will absolutely be criticized.”
“If Minister Zhou truly wants what is best for this contestant from your region, he should not prevent this rule from being added.”
The meeting fell silent for a full ten seconds.
Almost everyone struggled to control their facial expressions, showing looks of shock and bewilderment.
A monster of a contestant had actually appeared in this year's National Campus Beast-Taming League?
Minister Zhou, meanwhile, was purely reflecting on the words just spoken. He felt that Minister Zhang of the Xilu region had a point.
If Qiao Sang won the competition by relying on Space Shift to move opponents out of bounds, even if she eventually won the championship, most people would likely question her.
But if he just agreed to restrict the use of Space Shift, he felt unwilling.
Who told them that the only contestant capable of training Space Shift to this level was from their Yuhua region...
In an atmosphere that couldn't be any quieter, the leader of the Zhongkong region, Minister Yan, finally spoke
“What is this student's name?”
Minister Zhou snapped back to attention and answered respectfully, “Her name is Qiao Sang.”
There were differences even among Ministers.
The Zhongkong region was the central region of the Dragon Kingdom, and the Imperial Capital was built there. For officials of the same rank, the Zhongkong region held the highest administrative level.
Minister Yan asked, “How are her usual grades?”
*Not great...* Minister Zhou thought for a moment and phrased it as: “They're alright; she got into the best high school in her city.”
Minister Yan pondered for a moment and said in a steady tone
“Very well. Go contact her and tell this student named Qiao Sang not to use Space Shift to move opponents directly out of the arena during the National Tournament.”
“If she manages to place in the top two of the National Tournament, I will take the responsibility to let her become an interstellar exchange student and arrange for her to enter the Senior Year Elite Class over there, granting her the same right to apply for university as this year's graduating seniors.”
Although Qiao Sang was participating in the Senior Year bracket of the National Campus Beast-Taming League, she was only 15 and a freshman.
According to regulations, if a freshman won an interstellar exchange spot in the Senior Year bracket, it was true that their pet training would be aligned with the seniors, but their academic studies still had to be completed as a freshman.
In other words, even if she gained special admission eligibility for a top university, she would have to wait until her senior year to apply.
But now, with Minister Yan's word, Qiao Sang had the hope of becoming a graduating senior and entering university two years early.
*Huh? What? Let Qiao Sang enter the Senior Year Elite Class of the interstellar exchange school? Can her grades keep up with that?*
Minister Zhou was stunned for a long while before finally nodding
“Alright, I'll contact her.”
“As for this regulation,” Minister Yan said unhurriedly, “it will be formally announced starting from the next National Campus Beast-Taming League.”
The dozen or so Ministers from various regions remained silent, which counted as tacit agreement.
They knew that as long as Minister Zhou went to talk to Qiao Sang, she would agree regardless of the angle.
No student could refuse a suggestion to graduate two years early.
Minister Yan said
“Since no one has any objections.”
“Meeting adjourned!”
ps: Chapter 2 might be a bit late, everyone go to sleep first!
(End of Chapter)