"By the way, Thigh..." Fang Sisi seemed to want to say something more.
"Could you not call me that?" Qiao Sang directly interrupted her.
"Then should I call you Beautiful Leg?" Fang Sisi asked.
Qiao Sang: "…"
Under Qiao Sang’s cold, piercing gaze, Fang Sisi finally changed her tune. "Qiao Sang, have you already contracted a Contract Beast?"
Any newly awakened Beast Master couldn’t resist the temptation to contract a beast right away.
Qiao Sang nodded, not denying it.
"Then you…"
Fang Sisi was about to ask more, but the noise in the classroom suddenly went mute.
Looking up, she saw that the Homeroom Teacher had arrived...
In the next moment, Fang Sisi's face turned pale.
Oh no, what a disaster! She hadn't finished copying her homework!
"In five minutes, we’ll gather on the playground," the Homeroom Teacher said, stealing a glance at Qiao Sang.
The playground was packed with over 4,000 students and more than 300 teachers from Wencheng Middle School, forming a sea of heads.
"Why is the whole school here?" Fang Sisi poked Qiao Sang with her finger, standing a little ways back.
"Not sure," Qiao Sang replied.
The third-year students were usually busy preparing for the high school entrance exam, so they rarely held morning meetings with the first and second-year students. Even when the school called for gatherings, there were always a class or two that didn’t join.
Qiao Sang looked up at the stage and saw that all the school leaders, including the principal, the vice-principal, and the educational director, were gathered there—an unusually grand scene for a morning meeting.
Principal Chen Yongfeng was up on the stage, reciting the same old lines as usual, saying the same few phrases that offered little freshness.
Qiao Sang found herself bored, her mind drifting as the words on stage flowed by in one ear and out the other.
After a long ten minutes, an explosive round of applause filled her ears, and Qiao Sang instinctively followed along, clapping.
A small figure walked up from the third-year section to the stage.
“Dear teachers and fellow students, hello! I am Dai Shushu from Class 39. It’s an honor to…”
What was supposed to be just another ordinary morning meeting turned out to be Dai Shushu's individual award ceremony.
Qiao Sang had never interacted with Dai Shushu, but she had heard much about her from others nearby, so she knew a bit about her story.
Dai Shushu came from a poor family and was the only one receiving a scholarship from the school. She had always been at the top of her grade for all three years in middle school. Later, she achieved self-awakening and was directly recommended to Beast Master High School—a classic inspirational figure.
"So what if she got a recommendation? With her background, can she even afford a Contract Beast?" a boy standing to the right scoffed.
"Her parents aren't Beast Masters either; how did they end up with a self-awakening Beast Master?" another voice chimed in.
Qiao Sang was a bit surprised. With the development of the Beast Master society, people had long realized that the chances of a child being a Beast Master increased when both parents were Beast Masters. Higher-ranked Beast Masters had a better chance of giving birth to talented children.
On the contrary, if both parents were ordinary people, the chance of their child becoming a Beast Master was only 2%. While it was still possible for ordinary people to have a child who became a Beast Master, the likelihood of a self-awakening child was nearly zero.
Her interest piqued, Qiao Sang leaned in to listen.
"This time, being recommended to Holy Water Middle School isn't just about my own efforts but also thanks to my teachers..."
Qiao Sang's lashes fluttered.
They were all self-awakened, and with Holy Water Middle School in the mix, it was hard not to compare herself to her.
That comparison left her feeling a bit deflated, and she found herself uninterested in the rest of the speeches.
Back in the classroom, Qiao Sang buried herself in her books.
As a third-year student preparing for the high school entrance exam, she had already finished all her courses; it was mainly about reviewing and practicing exam papers.
【Over 3,000 years ago, when disasters struck—earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions flooded the world with a doomsday atmosphere—who was the Beast Master that stopped this calamity?】【A: Chen Jiading】
【B: Sen Xiaoman】
【C: Wang Wenyu】
【D: Wang Yao】
Her eyes had glossed over questions like these quite a bit, realizing that the turmoil over 3,000 years ago wasn’t natural disasters but man-made calamities.
These disasters were caused by Wang Yao's contract beasts, and as an SS-ranked Beast Master, he possessed the power to alter nature entirely.
As the rest of the Beast Master Codex awakened, when a Beast Master reached D-rank, they would receive certain benefits from their Contract Beasts regarding longevity and constitution.
As one’s rank increased, the benefits grew stronger. Unless directly attacked, it was quite difficult to sustain damage from the residual waves of power.
Wang Yao, leveraging his abilities as an SS-ranked Beast Master, burst through the encirclement of the Alliance and counterattacked, killing 223 Beast Masters, including 11 SS-rank Beast Masters.
An SS-rank Beast Master usually had to put in a hundred years of effort to get started, resulting in severe losses for the Alliance.
Later, it was Wang Wenyu, an SS-ranked Beast Master, who returned from Yantiansheng and subdued Wang Yao, but in that battle, five of his loyal Contract Beasts perished by his side.
From then on, Wang Wenyu chose to seclude himself.
If one rushed through this question without being careful, it was easy to pick D.
This question had appeared in the last mock exam, and Qiao Sang hadn’t selected D due to not reading carefully but precisely because she had rushed through it.
Now, staring at the question, she decided to change her prior answer.
"Qiao Sang, someone’s looking for you," a girl sitting by the door called out.
Qiao Sang looked up to see a girl in a faded uniform smiling at her from the entrance.
"It's Dai Shushu! When did you get to know her?" Fang Sisi asked in surprise.
Dai Shushu was a well-known figure at school, naturally drawing the attention of her classmates, who looked over curiously.
"I don't know her," Qiao Sang said in confusion.
She walked outside.
"Is there something you need?" Qiao Sang asked, her face puzzled.
She was sure that her previous self hadn't had any interactions with Dai Shushu, as they were from different classes—one a top student, and the other a poor performer, and now nearing graduation, she couldn’t imagine what Dai Shushu wanted from her.
"About last time, I’m here to apologize on behalf of my mom," Dai Shushu explained.
She had a delicate, pale-looking appearance, possibly due to malnutrition, making her seem fragile as if a gust of wind could sweep her away.
"What happened?" Qiao Sang raised an eyebrow.
"Didn’t Auntie tell you? Last Friday, my mother said some unpleasant things to her. There were teachers around, so I couldn’t speak up. How’s your Auntie doing now?" Dai Shushu said softly.
Qiao Sang fell silent for a moment and asked, "What did your mom say?"
Dai Shushu's expression turned apologetic. "Just some hurtful things. My mom didn’t mean it. Auntie said some things too..." She paused, "But the teacher saw they were about to fight and asked Auntie to leave. I felt bad about it."
Qiao Sang replied expressionlessly, "The teacher asked your mom to leave; that has nothing to do with you."
Dai Shushu tucked her hair behind her ear, "If it weren't for me, the teacher wouldn’t have sent Auntie out."
"I understand," Qiao Sang asked again, "What did your mom say back then?"
Dai Shushu lowered her head. She was already a head shorter than Qiao Sang, and once she looked down, her expression was entirely hidden.
"My mom said that your poor grades were because you didn’t have a father to guide you, that you just got lucky by awakening your powers, and she even said that it’s no wonder Auntie got divorced because she’s so fierce."
She lifted her head, her face as innocent as ever, "So, did you really awaken your powers?"