Chapter 48: The Baixin Tournament

"Yip!"

The Fire-Fang Dog's cry pulled Qiao Sang back from her thoughts.

Looking down, she realized an entire bottle of Qiyuan Milk had been drained.

The Fire-Fang Dog looked at its Beast Tamer with a face full of longing, clearly wanting another bottle.

Qiao Sang handed over the water she had prepared earlier.

Now that her entire net worth had dwindled to just three digits, she had to mix water with milk; otherwise, her assets might hit zero before the Baixin Tournament even began.

The Fire-Fang Dog had no objections to this.

After gulping down the water and taking two bites of the super-duper ultra-spicy roasted wings, it turned around and dove straight back into training.

Qiao Sang watched with complex emotions.

It seemed the Fire-Fang Dog truly wanted to learn "Mars Rain."

Staring at the fire-spitting dog for a while, Qiao Sang pulled out her phone to search for training institutions in Hanggang City that offered Mars Rain instruction.

Soon, several pages appeared showing various skill training agencies.

One of them was located just three streets away from her current position.

Qiao Sang clicked on it.

[One-on-One Nanny-Style Tutoring]

[One of the most renowned fire-type pet skill training institutions in the country]

[Boasting a training team of nearly 500 members, including 1 A-rank Beast Tamer, 12 B-rank Beast Tamers, and 122 C-rank Beast Tamers]

[Achieving over 20,000 successful skill training sessions annually]

The introduction looked quite exaggerated. If it were truly one of the most renowned institutions in the country, they would have added another zero after "20,000 successful sessions per year."

However, if they truly possessed an A-rank Beast Tamer as an instructor as claimed, the institution's strength would be nothing to scoff at.

Qiao Sang clicked further to inquire about the price of training for Mars Rain.

The price was sent to her almost immediately.

Qiao Sang felt dizzy.

So many zeros...

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions...

Unable to bear looking any further, Qiao Sang quickly closed the page and put her phone away.

It was better to just let the Fire-Fang Dog keep practicing like this; dreaming of professional training was out of the question...

...

...

June 30th.

Early in the morning, Qiao Sang took the Route 63 bus to the Pet Arena located in Shuke Park.

The entrance to the arena was already crowded with people, most of whom appeared to be around Qiao Sang's age.

There were also a few scattered reporters holding microphones, randomly catching people for interviews.

Carrying the Fire-Fang Dog, Qiao Sang intentionally took a detour to line up at Entrance No. 2, fearing she might be caught by a sharp-eyed reporter.

After all, with its sunglasses on, the Fire-Fang Dog was quite conspicuous among the crowd of rookie Beast Tamers of the same age.

The Fire-Fang Dog wasn't wearing the sunglasses because it wanted to; Qiao Sang had put them on it.

The Mars Rain training from the past few days had shown zero progress, and the Fire-Fang Dog seemed to have lost some confidence, becoming much quieter. Qiao Sang had decided to just put sunglasses on it.

Though the Fire-Fang Dog was still quiet with the sunglasses on, its mental state had at least improved.

After waiting in line for about twenty minutes and confirming her name to collect her contestant badge, Qiao Sang went to Row 11 in Section D of the arena.

"Qiao Sang!"

The person sitting in Row 11, Seat 5, waved their arm and called out.

Qiao Sang sat down next to Fang Sisi and asked, "Besides you, how many others from our class came?"

Last night, Fang Sisi had messaged Qiao Sang on her phone. During their chat, they realized they had both signed up for the June 30th Baixin Tournament, leading to this meeting.

"Not many, maybe four or five. The timing of the Baixin Tournament happens to clash with several matches of the Interstellar Cup, so everyone doesn't want to miss the live broadcast of the Cup," Fang Sisi replied, her eyes shining as she stared at the Fire-Fang Dog.

It was her first time seeing the Fire-Fang Dog in sunglasses.

This was way too cool!

Fang Sisi thought it was cool, and her mouth followed suit.

If it were any other time someone praised it like that, the Fire-Fang Dog would have puffed out its chest and barked boastfully.

But right now, it only puffed its chest slightly without making a sound.

The Fire-Fang Dog wanted to make a sound to show off, too.

But there was nothing it could do; it had eaten too many super-duper ultra-spicy roasted wings these past few days.

Its throat hurt...

"Your Cotton Bug is being raised well; it looks much bigger than last time," Qiao Sang complimented.

Actually, she wanted to say it looked "fatter"...

In just five short days, the Cotton Bug had become a whole circle rounder than before.

However, for bug-type pets like the Cotton Bug, the evolution cycle is short; as long as they eat well and sleep well, they develop much faster than other pets.

Such changes were visible to the naked eye.

"Mian~"

Hearing someone praise it, the Cotton Bug shyly turned around, presenting its back to Qiao Sang.

"Is it big? I didn't really notice." Fang Sisi reached out, picked up the Cotton Bug, and weighed it. "It does seem a lot heavier."

Cotton Bug: "..."

They were saying the same thing, but why did it feel so uncomfortable hearing its Beast Tamer say it like that...

After chatting for about twenty minutes, the surrounding seats were gradually filled.

With the loud bang of fireworks, the Baixin Tournament officially commenced.

"What's your number?" Fang Sisi asked.

"Number 123. You?" Qiao Sang asked back.

"Number 11," Fang Sisi answered.

Qiao Sang: "..."

"Shouldn't you go line up in the waiting room? I think it'll be your turn soon," Qiao Sang couldn't help but remind her.

The preliminary matches of the Baixin Tournament were not randomized; they proceeded directly by number—1 vs 2, 3 vs 4, and so on.

"Probably not. There are still five groups ahead of me. I'll head to the backstage when the fifth group starts. I want to watch more matches first," Fang Sisi said.

Although Qiao Sang felt it was unwise, she didn't say much more.

Fang Sisi had a point; after the host finished the introductions, it would likely take quite a while before several matches were completed.

Sixteen minutes later.

"Holy crap! Why so fast! Qiao Sang, I can't talk to you anymore, I gotta go!" Fang Sisi scooped up the Cotton Bug and bolted from her seat.

She sprinted down the aisle toward the backstage area.

Out of the sixteen minutes, the host's introduction alone had taken about ten.

The remaining time meant almost one match per minute.

The F-rank Beast Tamers entering the field only possessed junior-level pets with limited moves; basically, if they were attacked first, the match would end within about three rounds.

Qiao Sang had originally thought it wouldn't be her turn until the afternoon or even tomorrow.

Now it seemed she was 100% guaranteed to go this morning...

"Contestant Number 11, Fang Sisi."

"Contestant Number 11, Fang Sisi."

The host at the arena called Fang Sisi's name twice, but she still hadn't appeared.

"Let us congratulate..." The host was about to declare contestant number 12 the winner, but suddenly, a voice came through the earpiece.

"Let us congratulate contestant number 11, Fang Sisi, on her magnificent entrance!"

Since the start of the tournament, the host had been strictly stating the contestants' numbers and names; this was the first time the word "magnificent" had been added to an entrance.

For a moment, the audience grew more expectant.

Three seconds later.

Fang Sisi appeared on the field, panting heavily.

Beside her, a chubby Cotton Bug was laboriously waddling along...

(End of Chapter)