Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the day for the third stage of the National Tournament arrived.
The Shouyao Pet Battle Arena.
Colorful fireworks scattered across the sky, exploding into the shapes of various pets that had appeared throughout the National Tournament.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the live site of the National Campus Pet Taming League National Tournament!" In mid-air, a man dressed in a white formal suit stood atop a flying-type pet and shouted, "Next, we will be conducting the round of 34 to 17!"
After the second stage of the National Tournament ended, 33 people had advanced.
However, a subsequent playoff was held among the losers to select one more person to advance, bringing the total to 34.
At that moment, Qiao Sang appeared in the contestants' seating area, holding Ya Bao.
The moment she sat down, she drew attention from multiple sides.
Under the live broadcast cameras, almost everyone moved in unison, turning their heads to look in a certain direction.
"So this is Qiao Sang. She really does look like she's 15."
"Age can't be faked. People have even dug up when she attended kindergarten."
"Digging up kindergarten? Isn't that a bit much..."
"It's not that much for us, but the people in the Yuhua region have gone crazy. I heard the kindergarten she attended is already fully booked for admissions three years from now."
"That's normal; talent must be captured from a young age. A kindergarten that could teach Qiao Sang must have something special. If my family weren't all in the Xilu region and none of them in Yuhua, my relatives with children would definitely be looking for that kindergarten too."
Amidst the chatter of the crowd, the host followed the procedure, and the battle list soon appeared on the virtual screen.
【Dongjia Region, Gao Su VS Zhongkong Region, Zhao Chuanyu】
【Xilu Region, Feng Changfei VS Zhitia Region, Zhou Shanliang】
【Chongdao Region, Liu Yongming VS Beilun Region, Zhang Siya】
【Liaoxi Region, Cui Pingkun VS Zhongkong Region, Luo Yangyang】
...
【Gurì Region, Tian Xiaoyun VS Yuhua Region, Qiao Sang】
...
The 34 people were divided into 17 groups.
"Tian Xiaoyun..." Sun Boyi opened his notebook and said
"17 years old, female. She awakened independently a week before the high school entrance exam. In her first year of high school, she participated in the National Campus Pet Taming League team battles. Later, relying on her outstanding individual strength, she switched to individual battles in her second year."
"She has a high-level Psychic-type pet, Big-Mouth Ai. This pet emits a special alpha wave; anyone who gets close will feel a headache. Every time it uses an ability, the special alpha waves emitted from its body cause machinery to malfunction, making it the bane of Mechanical-type pets."
"Her other mid-level pet is a Bug-type Three-Headed Bee Monster. Its characteristics are Bug's Premonition and Light Metal."
"As a mid-level pet, the Three-Headed Bee Monster isn't particularly strong, but in her second year..."
Ever since Sun Boyi discovered last time that he knew nothing about Qiao Sang's situation, he had secretly resolved to prove his value. Thus, for the past two days, he had buried himself in past National Tournaments and stayed up late researching data, wishing he could dig up every resource the contestants advancing to the third stage had used on their pets over the last two years.
Unexpectedly, before he could finish, Liu Yao waved his hand and interrupted
"Qiao Sang, you know what the Bug's Premonition and Light Metal characteristics are, right?"
...Qiao Sang nodded: "Bug's Premonition means that when the pet's energy falls below one-quarter, the attack power of Bug-type moves increases twofold. Light Metal means that during battle, its own weight becomes half of its normal weight."
Sun Boyi couldn't help but say, "Vice Principal, Qiao Sang surely knows these basics."
Qiao Sang thought to herself: *No, I only found out by reading other contestants' data every day during the competition...*
Although she hadn't read books in a long time, the competition was also a learning process. Her knowledge of pets from other regions had indeed expanded significantly.
*What does this guy, who is solely focused on the competition, know? You don't even know what score Qiao Sang got to get in. However, Qiao Sang has indeed improved a lot. If it weren't for the vivid memory of the image of the old Qiao Sang eating the Ten-Thousand Flame Fruit—which only Fire-type pets can eat—he wouldn't keep remembering that this child wasn't great at studying...* Liu Yao's mind raced, but his expression remained calm as he said
"Continue."
Hearing this, Sun Boyi looked down at his notes and continued the previous introduction
"In her second year, Tian Xiaoyun gave the Three-Headed Bee Monster a bottle of A-grade Speed-Up Potion..."
Speed-Up Potion? To increase speed? Qiao Sang listened intently; this was information not present in the data she had originally checked.
Meanwhile, about ten meters away from Qiao Sang, Tian Xiaoyun had a miserable face
"It's over. Why am I so unlucky? I ran into Demon King Qiao in the top 34."
Beside her, a mature-looking woman in a black coat frowned and said
"The match hasn't even started, and your morale has already plummeted. When are you going to fix this flaw? You clearly have strong strength, yet you have zero confidence in yourself every time you compete."
Tian Xiaoyun froze for a moment, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the woman: "Teacher Cui, do you have confidence in me for this match?"
The woman remained silent for a moment and looked away: "Of course I do. Xiaoyun, you must believe that you are not inferior to anyone."
*Then stop looking elsewhere and look at me when you say it...* Tian Xiaoyun's lip twitched.
...
Time passed bit by bit, and by the time it was Qiao Sang's turn, it was already afternoon.
The host appeared in mid-air atop a white flying pet and shouted
"Next, let us welcome Qiao Sang from the Yuhua region and Tian Xiaoyun from the Gurì region to the stage!"
Cheers and screams erupted instantly. Before the battle even began, the audience was already boiling.
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
In the world of pet taming, the worship of the strong existed in every era.
Although Qiao Sang was only 15, she was simply too strong!
Only those of equal strength were called opponents. When there was a chasm in strength, there was no basis for comparison, and thus no competitive relationship.
For a moment, except for the students from the few schools reported by the media as championship contenders and the school Tian Xiaoyun belonged to, students from almost all other regional schools were chanting Qiao Sang's name.
The students in black uniforms sitting in a row listened to the deafening shouts in the arena, their faces tense and the atmosphere incredibly silent.
After a few seconds of silence, one of the boys finally couldn't hold back
"Why aren't you guys shouting?"
"Other people's voices are so loud, will they even hear us if we shout?" a girl beside him asked.
"Huh? What did you say!" The boy couldn't hear clearly and leaned in.
Girl: "..."
On the field.
Qiao Sang and Tian Xiaoyun had each taken their positions.
At the sound of the whistle, both simultaneously formed hand seals and summoned their respective pets.
"San San."
"Bing Ke."
Seeing the pets on the field, a portion of the audience instantly stood up in excitement and screamed.
"Ahhh! Bingke Xilu! Bingke Xilu!"
"I can't take it, I'm going to cry! I couldn't grab tickets during the regional qualifiers, I didn't expect heaven to give me the chance to see Bingke Xilu at the National Tournament!"
"Bingke Xilu! Mama will always support you!"
The other spectators looked on with strange expressions.
"What's wrong with those people? Have they gone mad?"
"This is nothing. You didn't see the regional qualifiers held in the Guwu region; that was true madness," complained a spectator from the Lianke region who had been lucky enough to witness the Guwu region qualifiers in person.
"It's not that it's incomprehensible. The pet Qiao Sang just summoned is an endangered species from the Guwu region."
"I've seen the Guwu region qualifiers online, but seeing it in person, these people still feel too crazy, like die-hard fans."
"That being said, I feel Qiao Sang is a bit suited for coordination contests. Her pets are all so gorgeous; even that Ghost-type pet looks cuter than most Ghost-types."
"I think so too."
...
In the first row of the spectator seats.
"Ah!" An intellectual-looking woman in her 30s suddenly bounced up from her seat, staring at the pet on the field with an extremely excited expression.
"Minister Lan?" The person beside her called out in confusion.
The woman's body stiffened, and she silently sat back down, pretending nothing had happened.
At the same time, the referee blew the whistle signaling the start of the match.
*Bingke Xilu knows Healing Light. If I can't one-shot a god-tier healer like that, there's no point in struggling to deal damage... But it's not impossible. First, I'll use the Three-Headed Bee Monster's speed to wear down Bingke Xilu's energy. When compared to a Bingke Xilu with most of its energy gone, Big-Mouth Ai will have a chance to win...* Tian Xiaoyun had been timid before entering the field, but the moment the match began, her aura changed completely.
"Move!" Tian Xiaoyun's gaze sharpened as she quickly issued the command.
"San San!"
The Three-Headed Bee Monster let out a cry and shot forward as a blur.
Immediately after, its direction shifted constantly, like a streak of yellow light darting erratically through the air.
Lu Bao's expression was cold. Standing in place without moving, its eyes tracked the darting yellow light as if it could see through the trajectory.
*Bingke Xilu is so calm; it really can see through the trajectory of a high-speed opponent...* Tian Xiaoyun's gaze shifted to the blue figure in the distance, her expression serious.
She had studied every one of Qiao Sang's matches. During the regional qualifiers, when facing a fast-moving Jaw-Electric Bug, Bingke Xilu had seen through its movement trajectory and ended the match directly with a Water Tail.
*But what if there is more than one trajectory?*
Suddenly, the yellow light darting in the air split from one into two, and two into four.
Four streaks of yellow light darted everywhere, intersecting and then quickly separating, their speed reaching the extreme.
Forget following the speed with the naked eye; for a moment, it was confusing just how many streaks of yellow light there were.
At this moment, Qiao Sang spoke
"Rain Dance."
"Bing Ke."
Lu Bao looked up and opened its mouth.
"Interrupt it!" Tian Xiaoyun responded immediately.
Although using the Rain Dance skill would consume some of Bingke Xilu's energy, this amount was negligible for a high-level pet.
If the rain were successfully summoned, the disadvantages would be too great.
Not only would the Three-Headed Bee Monster's speed decrease, but Bingke Xilu, possessing the Swift Swim characteristic, would have its speed tripled. By then, the Three-Headed Bee Monster would likely be defeated quickly.
Rather than that, it was better to interrupt the Rain Dance and harass Bingke Xilu from time to time, forcing it to keep attacking and releasing skills to waste energy.