Chapter 676: Ghost Ring King

Tang Yi glanced at Gangbao and suddenly sighed.

He was reminded of his Water Lion, which still hadn’t evolved.

Although he had only formed a contract with it a few months ago, and perfect evolution naturally takes time, it still pained him to see that Qiao Sang’s Little Steel Falcon, contracted around the same time, had already evolved into a Steel Guardian Falcon.

Not only that, but its size, feather color, and sharpness were all better than most intermediate pet beasts. Just from looking at it, one could tell it had strong combat power.

It was that kind of exhaustion, where no matter how hard you try, you feel like you’ll never catch up.

“I’m heading out.” Tang Yi said quietly.

“Stay the night.” Qiao Sang said with a mysterious smile.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“What kind of surprise?” Tang Yi looked at her, confused.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Qiao Sang chuckled.

Tang Yi hesitated.

“But I planned to join the pet beast arena competition tonight…”

Qiao Sang replied, “Just go. As long as you come back before midnight, it’s fine.”

Now that Little Treasure had trained his Shadow Control to the peak ultimate level, she was ready to begin his evolution.

Back when Yabao evolved, it happened a month earlier than expected, and the chaos at the time made it hard to record anything.

But now, the situation with Little Treasure was different. He could evolve peacefully at home, and she could record the whole process.

Watching a high-level pet evolve into a general-level one wasn’t something one could see every day. Tang Yi, also from Blue Star and considered a friend, was just in time, she wanted him to witness this moment with her.

Tang Yi thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Got it.”

---

Dinner.

Qiao Sang sat at the table, enjoying a meal made by the vice principal.

Not only was the vice principal skilled at making energy pills, but his cooking was better than most restaurants.

Liu Yao was eating while reading a research paper on pet beasts on his tablet.

Chewing on her food, Qiao Sang glanced at Little Treasure happily munching on an energy pill and suddenly thought of something. She asked:

“Vice Principal, I’m planning to let Little Treasure evolve tonight. You didn’t make too many energy pills for a Ghost Ring Phantom recently, right?”

Liu Yao: ???

For a moment, Liu Yao wondered if he’d heard wrong.

He raised his head, his brows knitting into a frown. He confirmed:

“You’re planning to let the Ghost Ring Phantom evolve?”

“Xun Xun?!”

Little Treasure perked up immediately upon hearing that, forgetting all about the energy pill and turning to look at his beast master, eyes sparkling with a “really?” expression.

Qiao Sang smiled and nodded.

“Xun Xun!”

Little Treasure began happily floating in circles around the living room.

Liu Yao put down his chopsticks and said seriously, “Evolving from a high-level pet to a general-level one isn’t easy. First of all, the energy required usually takes years to accumulate, several years is considered fast. For some, it takes more than ten or even twenty years.”

“Yap yap?”

Yabao tilted his head in confusion.

That long?

Seeing his expression, Liu Yao immediately guessed what he was thinking.

He went silent.

After two seconds, Liu Yao couldn’t help but continue, “Then there’s the evolution material. For a Ghost Ring Phantom to evolve into a Ghost Ring King, you need a Yin Dynasty Pearl. If you want a relatively perfect evolution, you need one of high quality.”

“Xun Xun?”

Just as he said that, Little Treasure floated over, took off his ring, and pulled out a square box. He opened it and let out a sound, asking,

Is it this?

Liu Yao stared at the pearl in the box for a moment, just about to speak.

Qiao Sang added, “It’s an SS-level Yin Dynasty Pearl.”

Liu Yao: …

He swallowed his words and went silent again. Rubbing his temples, he slowly exhaled and tried to remain composed:

“Maybe your Ghost Ring Phantom showed signs of evolution because it came into contact with the SS-level Yin Dynasty Pearl but that’s just because the material was too high-level.”

“If a pet beast’s internal energy hasn’t reached the level required for evolution and it’s forced to evolve just because of the material, then its potential won’t be fully unleashed. Even if it evolves, it’ll be weaker compared to others of the same level and may never evolve again.”

If this weren’t Qiao Sang, he might’ve lost it.

You think early evolution is good for your pet?

Forcing the Ghost Ring Phantom to evolve prematurely due to an SS-level pearl was practically destroying its future!

And it had both psychic and ghost attributes, a genius ghost-type pet!

But since it was Qiao Sang, Liu Yao held back and said mildly, “I think your Ghost Ring Phantom is highly talented. Evolution is just a matter of time, there’s no need to rush it.”

Qiao Sang took a bite and replied, “No, he’s ready. Little Treasure’s energy has already reached the evolution point.”

After Tang Yi left, she had gone into the Beast master Codex and allocated his experience points up to the evolution threshold, leaving just 30 points.

She’d planned it all out.

Now, thanks to special energy pills and the beast’s increasing level, he gained 50 points daily.

By midnight, his points would be full, triggering evolution. And with the Yin Dynasty Pearl added, it’d be perfect.

Liu Yao was stunned.

“How do you know it’s reached the evolution point?”

Qiao Sang replied with a straight face, “I checked Little Treasure’s stats yesterday, it showed that.”

Liu Yao frowned.

“Where did you do the check?”

Qiao Sang casually replied, “The Beast master Center.”

Little Treasure glanced at her, confused at first, then determined.

Did they go yesterday?

Doesn’t matter! If Master said we did, then we did!

“Xun Xun!”

He nodded vigorously in agreement.

Qiao Sang: …

If it were Blazing Star Canine, fine, its evolution path was unknown, and the evolution itself was already a big deal. But Ghost Ring Phantom’s evolution path was clear. In such cases, perfect evolution depends entirely on the beast master. So how could its energy already be full? Could the report be wrong…

Liu Yao worried.

But since the report came from Chaosu Star Beast master Center, it shouldn’t be wrong.

After all, it’s not like another Ghost Ring Phantom would show up at the same time.

Liu Yao looked at Little Treasure again but didn’t say more.

Still uneasy about tonight’s evolution, he couldn’t concentrate on his paper.

---

11:58 PM

The night was heavy.

At the open-air training ground.

Qiao Sang had her camera set up.

Tang Yi came over and glanced at Liu Yao, whispering:

“Why’s your high school’s vice principal here?”

He had noticed this guy during the National Campus Beast Mastering League.

“He’s a senior researcher. He’s currently studying the Fire Fang Dog’s evolution chain.” Qiao Sang replied while adjusting the camera to point at Little Treasure Seeker.

Tang Yi instantly understood.

So he was here for Fire Qilu.

Watching Qiao Sang’s setup, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Recording a beautiful moment.” She replied.

“And the surprise you mentioned?” Tang Yi asked again.

Qiao Sang glanced at the time on her phone.

11:59.

“Almost. Just one more minute.” She said.

Maybe a celestial phenomenon?

Tang Yi looked up.

Nothing unusual.

“Your Fire Qilu’s still awake at this hour?” He asked, noticing Yabao nearby.

He remembered how Qiao Sang used to leave the arena whenever Blazing Star Canine’s bedtime came.

“He doesn’t want to miss this moment either.” She smiled.

What is this about…

Tang Yi grew more curious. He looked toward Qiao Sang’s camera and spotted the Ghost Ring Phantom.

“What’s it holding?” His eyesight, enhanced by beast feedback, was still good enough to spot the pearl.

“A Yin Dynasty Pearl.” Qiao Sang answered.

Tang Yi thought for a moment.

“Is that a ghost-type item?”

Qiao Sang didn’t answer. She simply said, a bit excitedly, “It’s starting!”

Tang Yi: ???

Starting what?

Following her gaze, he saw a beam of white light, bright against the night sky.

!!!

Evolution light?!

Wait! Wasn’t the Ghost Ring Spirit just standing there?!

It evolved?!

Tang Yi froze, then blurted out:

“Holy crap! That was the surprise, Ghost Ring Phantom’s evolving?!”

Qiao Sang giggled.

“Isn’t it a good one?”

Tang Yi: …

Nearby-

“Yap yap!”

Yabao watched the light excitedly.

“Lu…”

Lubao stared intently, expression calm.

“Gang Guard.”

Gangbao glanced at the light, then at Yabao and Lubao, and mentally bumped Little Treasure from third to second place in strength.

Wait! The Ghost Ring Phantom was holding the Yin Dynasty Pearl, but it didn’t fuse with it until after the evolution light started…

Liu Yao, who had been watching closely, was dumbfounded.

Logically, if the energy wasn’t enough, the evolution light wouldn’t appear until after the SS-level pearl fused with the beast.

But now, the pearl fused after the light started!

Which meant the test report was right!

Its internal energy had reached the evolution threshold!

Liu Yao was stunned.

Tang Yi’s brain was also spinning.

Only Qiao Sang, while excited, remained calm.

She watched as the silhouette in the light grew bigger, then stopped. After about ten seconds, the light faded.

Standing before them was a pet about 60 centimeters tall, primarily gray-black, wearing a golden crown on his head with golden braids sticking out the middle.

A golden ring was on his forehead, and two horns on the crown’s sides each held a golden ring. Both paws also had golden rings.

“Gho… Xun- Xun Xun!” Little Treasure adjusted his voice and excitedly floated toward his beast master.

Watching the approaching pet, Tang Yi muttered:

“Ghost Ring King…”