The two of them stood in silence for a while.
Qiao Sang remained quiet, standing off to the side.
The spiky-haired guy gave Jiang Liu a subtle look.
Jiang Liu, curious, asked, "What's with your eyes?"
Spiky-haired guy: "..."
Too clueless.
He suppressed the urge to facepalm and instead managed to squeeze out one word: "Money."
Only then did Jiang Liu realize, hurriedly digging 50 Alliance Credits out of his pocket and handing it over.
Spiky-haired guy: "..."
Serves you right for being single! Couldn't you just exchange contact info and transfer it later?!
"Thanks, I'll be going now," Qiao Sang said with a smile as she took the money.
The after-school rush only lasted so long; she still had to use this time to lure more challengers.
"Wait! Fight me too," the spiky-haired guy called out, blocking her path. "I don't need the money either. Just tell me how you trained Firefang Dog."
Qiao Sang shook her head. "I have no secret."
"Impossible! If there's no secret, why is Firefang Dog so obedient?" he said incredulously.
Training pets wasn't exactly a secret—universities even had majors dedicated to it.
Graduates of such programs were called Breeders in the Alliance. Like beast tamers, they needed to pass grading tests, from F level all the way up to SSS.
Some tamer-pet pairs would hire breeders to create full training regimens.
But some tamers had their own unique ways and refused to share.
For example, the Wei family in Jiangcheng could lure elusive fairy-type supernatural creatures with food they loved, compelling them to willingly become the family's pets.
The recipe alone could make one rich if patented or sold—but the Wei family only used it themselves.
After three centuries, almost every family member had a fairy-type pet, earning them the title "Fairy Household."
The spiky-haired guy assumed Qiao Sang was just unwilling to share.
He still remembered the high school senior, one of only two students who had contracted a fire-type pet. When he let the girl touch his Fire Armored Mouse, it immediately sprayed him with flames.
The guy was fine, just burned his hair off and has had to wear a hat every day since.
But Firefang Dog… even in that situation, it obediently stood still.
Qiao Sang said calmly, "It's my pet. Isn't it normal for it to listen to me?"
"Ya."
Firefang Dog nodded, as if agreeing with its master.
Seeing this, the spiky-haired guy hesitated. Could Firefang Dog's obedient behavior be just its natural temperament?
"Can I touch it?" he asked.
"Chen Tongtong, don't get impulsive," Jiang Liu interjected.
Everyone knew the story of the senior who went bald. Jiang Liu didn't want Chen Tongtong to become the second.
"It's fine, go ahead," Qiao Sang said nonchalantly.
Back at the pet base, before they were contracted, Firefang Dog had been willing to let her touch it as well.
Chen Tongtong crouched down, reaching toward Firefang Dog.
"Ya."
Firefang Dog showed off its sharp teeth in a friendly gesture.
Chen Tongtong immediately withdrew his hand, afraid it might bite.
"Just fight me then. I don't care about your training secrets anymore. Just tell me how you normally raise Firefang Dog," Chen Tongtong stood up and said.
"Fine," Qiao Sang agreed.
Although Firefang Dog had only been with her for three or four days, she had at least begun to develop some training experience.
Seeing them settle, Jiang Liu stepped forward. "I'll be the referee this round." Qiao Sang nodded.
Chen Tongtong summoned his pet.
Qiao Sang silently observed the creature before her.
A brown worm-like pet, about ten centimeters long and resembling a foxtail grass, wriggled on the ground.
A Cotton Caterpillar…
Cotton Caterpillars were usually green, and brown ones were uncommon. Cheap and common, most ambitious tamers wouldn't bother contracting them.
Its evolutions were varied, though. One evolution, the Snowflake Butterfly, was a rare ice-type pet, greatly increasing its potential value.
But all that value depended on evolving.
Qiao Sang had read in books that Cotton Caterpillars could only learn Silk Spinning and Charge. Nothing else.
Wasn't this basically a free win for her?
"You go first this time," Qiao Sang said.
She didn't want Firefang Dog to end the match with a single Fire Spark.
Chen Tongtong, of course, knew what Qiao Sang was thinking. Every time he summoned his Cotton Caterpillar, she let him attack first.
This underestimation consistently worked in his favor.
Normally, Cotton Caterpillars evolved in 3–5 months, but his had taken almost a year. All that time had been spent laying a solid foundation for perfect evolution.
Thanks to that foundation, his Cotton Caterpillar was far above ordinary ones.
Its silk was unusually tough, and that had earned him 39th place in the first-year tamer competition.
"Cotton Caterpillar! Show her your strength!" Chen Tongtong shouted, raising a hand.
"Jie!"
The Cotton Caterpillar opened its mouth and launched a snow-white silk line straight at Firefang Dog.
It was so fast that Firefang Dog hadn't even taken a step before it was wrapped up.
Firefang Dog struggled—but couldn't break free.
Qiao Sang frowned. Clearly, Firefang Dog's speed training needed to be prioritized.
"Give it the finishing blow!" Chen Tongtong continued to shout.
The Cotton Caterpillar's body glowed faintly. The ten-centimeter creature launched itself into the air instead of just wriggling!
Its speed far surpassed Firefang Dog's previous charge.
Qiao Sang calculated the distance. After three seconds, she gave the command: "Fire Fang."
A brilliant blaze instantly destroyed the white silk, biting accurately onto the incoming Cotton Caterpillar.
"Jie!!!"
The Cotton Caterpillar screeched, and two seconds later, its eyes went white as it passed out.
"Qiao Sang wins," Jiang Liu announced.
"Cotton Caterpillar!" Chen Tongtong ran over, scooping up the fallen pet.
After confirming it had merely fainted, he stored it back into the Beast Codex.
"Why?" Chen Tongtong looked up, eyes red, and asked Qiao Sang.
"What?" she asked back.
She didn't understand—wasn't it normal for Firefang Dog to defeat a Cotton Caterpillar? Why the big reaction?
"Why did you destroy its silk so easily?" Chen Tongtong glared at her, unwilling to accept it.
His Cotton Caterpillar's silk was extremely tough. Once it wrapped an opponent, escape was nearly impossible, even for a strong pet.
Now it had been destroyed almost playfully.
"Uh…" Qiao Sang thought for a moment. "Don't you know fire-types are strong against bug-types?"
Chen Tongtong: "..."
"Maybe you haven't battled against a fire-type pet before?" Qiao Sang realized.
Chen Tongtong: "…!!"
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