In the year 2024, on July 16th.
In the realm of F-rank Beastmasters, there were many qualified participants. After a full day of efficient preliminary matches, the competition was still ongoing. However, only a little over sixty contenders remained, and it wouldn’t take more than an hour to finish the remaining preliminaries.
Qiao Sang arrived at Row 9 in Zone C.
Bai Yunmiao had also signed up for the Bai Xin competition and had successfully passed the preliminary round. The two of them, having both advanced, had arranged to meet.
"Qiao genius, I found out that those who made it through the preliminaries will have their names shuffled randomly on the big screen. The pairs they are matched with will form a group,” Bai Yunmiao explained, pointing to the screen above the arena.
Ever since she learned Qiao Sang's name, Bai Yunmiao had taken to calling her Qiao genius online.
Qiao Sang nodded; such random allocations were common in competitions.
"Why are you all dressed up today... so nicely?" Qiao Sang asked.
To be precise, "nicely" meant quite grand.
Bai Yunmiao sat there primly, looking like a lady, her hair and makeup perfectly done. She wore a little black dress complemented by bright high heels, an outfit fit for a banquet.
"Isn't it just to look good on screen? I watched the replay from yesterday, and it was a disaster! They managed to make me look really ugly, capturing less than a third of my beauty," Bai Yunmiao complained.
Indeed, without filters, live-streamed footage could sometimes serve as a 'mirror of reality.'
Bai Yunmiao continued, "Besides, since there are half the participants today, I feel like there's a high chance I might get interviewed."
Interview… Qiao Sang remembered a certain recent event and felt a lump in her throat, deciding not to speak further.
...
Inside the arena, to her surprise, Qiao Sang spotted someone she recognized among the contestants in Group Nine—Dai Shushu. If she hadn't seen her there, Qiao Sang might have almost forgotten about her.
Dai Shushu's contract beast was not one of the five common choices for novice Beastmasters but rather a Water Prawn. Not all water-type beasts were amphibious creatures, and even those that could move on land often struggled to showcase their full potential. Due to space restrictions, few Beastmasters were willing to give their first contract slot to a water-type beast.
Qiao Sang couldn’t help but watch closely. Deep down, she still regarded Dai Shushu as a rival.
56 seconds later.
"Chen Cheng has won."
Qiao Sang stared blankly for a moment. This was completely different from what she had imagined!
She hadn’t even begun analyzing Dai Shushu's combat level with the Water Prawn, and the match was over already! The opponent's Little Plump Dove had struck the Water Prawn twice and rendered it unable to fight, something so ordinary that it seemed almost laughable!
Was Dai Shushu really this weak?!
Qiao Sang felt a bit dazed. Why had she once considered Dai Shushu a fierce competitor?
She tried to recall. Back then, they had both undergone Self Awakening; the difference was...
Cultural points...
Cultural points…
Dai Shushu still turned out to be a formidable opponent after all…
As efficient as before, all the names of the contestants who advanced in the preliminary matches were logged into the system in just under an hour.
The images of the participants on the giant screen above the arena flickered rapidly.
6 seconds later.
The pictures froze.
All the teams were arranged, and Qiao Sang spotted her opponent.
The person in the photo had bulging eyes the size of green beans and a hairline slightly pushed back, with a face that looked older than his actual age.
Xie Jianyin.
Qiao Sang recognized him immediately as one of the 21 Beastmasters she had noted down in her memo.
Luck was on her side; her hard work hadn’t been in vain...
The competition to enter the top 64 soon began. Those who made it through the preliminaries were of a higher skill level than those eliminated, thus the duration of matches had increased from one minute to two or three minutes to determine the victor.
"Who do you think has a better chance of winning between Qiao Sang and Xie Jianyin?" asked the middle-aged commentator with slicked-back hair to his co-commentator.
In the arena, Qiao Sang and Xie Jianyin took their positions. As members of the third match, Qiao Sang had headed backstage when the first match was announced to begin.
Sure enough, it was soon her turn...
"Xie Jianyin has been an F-rank Beastmaster for three years. In terms of experience and strength, he has a greater chance against Qiao Sang," said the commentator, voicing his perspective.
"What a shame, so many contestants just happened to meet an opponent with a mid-level beast."
"I remember Xie Jianyin’s beast is a Long-tailed Snake."
"The thought of a cute little sister losing to such an ugly guy makes my heart ache."
"He's only 18; he's still a boy."
The audience began debating, most leaning in favor of Qiao Sang. Though strength was the focus nowadays, among F-rank Beastmasters, people still supported the contestant with better looks. Besides, people remembered Qiao Sang's Fire-tooth Dog, as it was currently the only fire-type beast present in the Bai Xin competition.
...
As the judge issued the command to summon beasts, a gray star array lit up before Xie Jianyin.
The Fire-tooth Dog gathered energy within, preparing itself for the match. Last night, it had discussed strategies with its master, planning for various opponents and how to counter them. Now, it was simply waiting for that dark beast to appear...
Inside the gray star array, a beast appeared: all bright red with an oval-shaped head and a long black stripe connecting from its top to its tail.
Huh?
Why wasn’t it that dark beast?
The Fire-tooth Dog was confused. What was different from what its master had told it?
Qiao Sang looked at the opponent's beast speechlessly.
Fire Chain Snake, a beginner-level fire-type beast.
Yesterday she had put in the effort to study the mid-level Long-tailed Snake, and here he sends out a beginner-level fire-type beast to face her?
Knowing she only had a Fire-tooth Dog, he still chose a beast of the same attribute?
Surely he thought little of the Fire-tooth Dog...
Indeed, Xie Jianyin underestimated the Fire-tooth Dog. In truth, he underestimated Qiao Sang herself.
His second beast, the Fire Chain Snake, had been contracted for two months. As a Beastmaster with two beasts, he obviously intended to switch between them in competition!
For a freshly graduated junior high student who had just contracted a beast, using either of his beasts against her was more than enough.
As soon as the judge declared the match to start, Qiao Sang gave the order to act as planned.
At the same time, Xie Jianyin commanded a flame burst.
The Fire-tooth Dog’s energy was already brewing within.
Thus, it released its skill quicker than the Fire Chain Snake could even fully materialize its flame burst.
Outside the arena.
"That’s a spark at the minor level!" the commentator exclaimed in surprise.
Just as the Fire Chain Snake finished forming its flame attack, the Fire-tooth Dog’s spark came hurtling toward it.
The two powers collided, creating a violent explosion.
Within the explosion’s epicenter, the Fire Chain Snake was hit with a strong force.
"Chain!!!"
The Fire-tooth Dog didn’t care that the Fire Chain Snake had been knocked back and landed hard on the ground; it directly created four shadow clones, preparing to encircle its opponent.
Following the tactics established with its master the day before, it planned to confuse the opponent with two shadow duplicates while its main body and another shadow...
"Qiao Sang wins!" the judge announced at that moment.
"Tooth?"
The Fire-tooth Dog stopped in its tracks before it could finish encircling its opponent.
Did they win?
(End of Chapter)