Chapter 686: Flame Sky Star

On the way, Qiao Sang occasionally saw parents accompanying students.

Unlike regular universities where usually only the father or mother comes along, at Yulianton University, most students arrived with their whole families. They strolled, explored the campus, and took photos as if on a sightseeing trip.

Someone like Qiao Sang, with no parents accompanying her, was rare.

Many freshmen, seeing Qiao Sang without any luggage or companions, mistook her for a senior and approached to ask for directions.

But as they got closer and saw her clearly underage-looking face, they hesitated and walked away.

Qiao Sang, unaware of their thoughts, assumed they were just curious about Yabao and came closer to look.

She arrived at a fork in the path where a virtual screen displayed a campus map.

As she studied it, a voice rang out beside her:

“Excuse me, senior, how do I get to the registration area?”

Qiao Sang kept looking at the map, ignoring the voice.

“Senior? Senior?” The voice repeated twice more before she turned her head to see a smiling black girl, half a head taller than her.

Next to the girl was a pet beast about two meters tall, mostly green, with a long neck, sturdy limbs, and three leaf-like structures around its neck. It carried a suitcase strapped to its back with vine whips.

“Senior, which way is the registration area?” The girl asked again.

Qiao Sang looked around, confirmed she was being addressed, and replied, “I’m a freshman too.”

The girl was stunned, then smiled apologetically.

“Sorry! I thought you were a senior since you weren’t carrying anything.”

Qiao Sang gave her best social smile.

“No problem.”

Then she turned to leave.

“Wait!” The girl caught up to her.

“Have you already been to the registration area?”

“No.” Qiao Sang shook her head.

“Perfect!” The girl’s face lit up.

“Let’s go together.”

“Sure.” Qiao Sang said as she confidently headed to the right.

The girl quickly followed.

“I’m Minian, from the Pet Beast Pharmacy Department. And you?”

“Qiao Sang, from the Beast Taming Department.”

Beast Taming Department…

Minian looked at the girl and the red pet beast in her arms, momentarily stunned.

She hadn’t expected a random student she approached to be from the Beast Taming Department.

That department was a major one, much harder to get into than others.

“You’re not from Chaosu Star, are you?” Minian tried to make conversation.

Qiao Sang played along.

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve studied the cultures of other planets. On Chaosu Star, the relationship between humans and pet beasts is tense. It’s basically unheard of to see someone walking around hugging a pet beast.” Minian explained:

“Even if the pet beast is injured, Chaosu Star residents typically store it in a Beast Tamer’s Codex and take it to a center or wait for medics to arrive.”

This was clearly an outsider’s perspective on Chaosu Star…

Qiao Sang tilted her head.

“Aren’t you from Chaosu Star?”

“No.” Minian smiled.

“I’m from Flame Sky Star.”

Flame Sky Star…

Qiao Sang studied her in surprise.

This was the first time she had met someone from Flame Sky Star.

Among the four planets, Flame Sky Star had the highest ratio of beast tamers, over 90% of the population, supposedly.

You could casually run into beast tamers just walking around, regular people were rare.

Unlike the other three planets, Flame Sky Star, because ordinary people had little self-protection or ways to earn money, implemented many policies favoring them.

The most talked-about one?

If your Beast Tamer’s Codex doesn’t awaken when your brain domain is stimulated, officially confirming you as a regular human, you get a monthly stipend of 5,000 Alliance Credits, for life.

Back when she was in middle school, many classmates joked that if their codexs didn’t awaken, they’d immigrate to Flame Sky Star.

But it was just talk. Immigration, especially interstellar, wasn’t that easy.

Now, realizing Minian was from Flame Sky Star, Qiao Sang got curious.

“I heard you can legally fence off areas for wild pet beasts over there, is that true?”

“It’s true.” Minian grinned.

“Our wild pet beasts live alongside humans like on Chaosu Star, but they have much better rights.”

Qiao Sang recalled something she saw on the news and asked:

“I heard some of your national leaders are pet beasts?”

Minian waved it off.

“On Flame Sky Star, almost every country has high-ranking leaders who are pet beasts. It’s nothing strange. The world belongs to both humans and pet beasts, only by developing together can things get better.”

With awareness like that, no wonder Flame Sky Star students win almost every Interstellar Cup…

Qiao Sang thought, then asked:

“So why’d you choose to study on Chaosu Star?”

She already knew the answer, Yulianton University was ranked third interstellarly.

Who wouldn’t come?

Minian smiled.

“I just picked the best school among my options. Plus, visiting other planets broadens your horizons.”

Then she asked, “What about you? Why not attend your home planet’s top university?”

Qiao Sang chuckled.

“I am from my planet’s top university, I’m just here on exchange for a semester.”

“Exchange student?” Minian blinked.

“Which top university are you from?”

“Imperial Beast University.” Qiao Sang answered.

Minian immediately went quiet.

Qiao Sang had no idea why the other girl suddenly stopped talking.

After wandering around for about 20 minutes, they finally reached the registration area.

The process was simple: Present your ID card, admission notice, exam permit, and personal file, verify everything, and sign.

Since they were in different majors, Qiao Sang and Minian soon parted ways and lined up at their respective departments.

At the Beast Taming Department's registration desk, a male student was checking names. When he saw Qiao Sang’s documents, he looked up in surprise.

“Exchange student?”

Qiao Sang nodded.

Nearby seniors, who were chatting, turned their eyes toward her, then collectively stared at Yabao.

A blonde senior girl, curious, leaned in to look at the documents.

“Imperial Beast University?” Her brows rose in interest.

Everyone knew Imperial Beast University and Yulianton University were rivals. No one expected an exchange student from their rival school this year.

That got more people to crowd around and read her info.

While they were distracted, Qiao Sang quietly finished signing and took back her documents, preparing to leave.

Just then, a red-haired boy with sharp features caught up and offered warmly:

“Junior, let me walk you to the dorm!”

“No need, I’ve applied for off-campus living.” Qiao Sang declined.

As an interstellar exchange student, she had already indicated her preference for commuting in her application. Since Yulianton agreed to the exchange, they also agreed to let her live off-campus while still reserving a dorm room.

Qiao Sang had no plans to visit the dorm yet.

She had an appointment at 2:00 PM with a Body Forge Bug and didn’t want to waste time.

Hearing that, the red-haired boy could only stop and watch her walk away.

Sigh, there were mostly boys in the Beast Taming Department, finally, a pretty junior showed up, and she didn’t even stay in the dorms.

How was he supposed to show off his gentlemanly charm…

While he was sighing, a ruckus broke out behind him:

“Sixteen?! That exchange student is only sixteen?!”

“Oh my god! No wonder she looked so young, she is young!”

“Same here! I told Damei she looked young because she’s from the Dragon Nation, but turns out she’s literally underage.”

“Wait, her pet beast, how come it wasn’t listed in her records?”

Sixteen. Only sixteen. That’s terrifying. I nearly tried to flirt with a minor…

The red-haired boy’s face paled as he silently cursed himself.

---

Qiao Sang glanced at her phone. Since it wasn’t yet 2:00 PM, she decided to stroll around Yulianton and get familiar with the layout.

The university had all sorts of pet-beast-related shops, especially food ones.

Yabao sniffed around, and whenever he caught a whiff of something he liked, he would jump from her arms and dash over, wagging his tail at her.

Qiao Sang chuckled and paid up without hesitation.

Yabao ended up eating so much energy-filled food that his belly bulged.

Little Treasure had been unusually quiet today…

Qiao Sang suddenly remembered and called out:

“Little Treasure?”

“Xun~”

But Little Treasure didn’t appear right away like usual. He took three seconds before showing up.

Something feels off…

Qiao Sang stared at him.

“Xun~”

Little Treasure blinked innocently.

“You want anything to eat?” She asked.

“Xun~”

Little Treasure shook his head.

Definitely suspicious. There were so many tasty things, and he didn’t want a single one…

Qiao Sang gave him a meaningful look.

Little Treasure blinked again, looking all sweet and harmless.

“Fine, forget it if you don’t want anything.” She said.

“Xun~”

With that, Little Treasure gave a chirp, quickly disappeared, looking like he couldn’t wait to be gone.

Qiao Sang sensed his aura. He was the real one, still in the same spot, hadn’t moved.

Maybe I’m just imagining things…

She muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, the invisible Little Treasure had a

let’s go!

expression, yet there was nothing around him, no other ghost-type pet beast in sight.

At the same time-

In an unused room in a villa, another

Little Treasure

was furiously typing away at a keyboard.

---

6:00 PM

Living Room.

The dining table was filled with steaming homemade dishes, Vice Principal Liu had prepared dinner.

“You reported to Yulianton University today?” Liu Yao asked while picking up some food.

Qiao Sang gave a soft “Mm”: “They emailed this morning. I thought it wasn’t far, so I just went directly.”

“When does school start?” Liu Yao asked.

“In six days.” Qiao Sang replied.

Not all freshmen at Yulianton University were from Chaosu Star. To give everyone enough time, they had a full week to report in.

Liu Yao paused for a moment, then said, “I recently met a supplier who provides ingredients for energy pills to a pet cultivation shop inside Yulianton University. He told me that every year when the new students arrive, each department has its own assessment, which directly affects their ranking and points.”

He added, “They say it’s very important, probably the easiest time to earn points during your time at Yulianton.”

Points?

Qiao Sang thought of the senior who only needed one point to teleport.

Liu Yao continued: “Pay attention the day before school starts. That night, don’t let Ghost Ring King play on the computer. Don’t want him performing badly during the assessment.”

Little Treasure was focused on eating his energy pill, seemingly unaware of the conversation.

Qiao Sang nodded.

“Got it.”

Each department had different assessments. She was in the Beast Taming Department, so the test would probably involve pet battles. Little Treasure definitely needed to conserve his energy.

Liu Yao took a few bites of rice, then suddenly thought of something. He lowered his voice and said, “I checked on Steel Guardian Falcon and Ice Xilu today, and I found that Ice Xilu’s condition seems a bit off.”

Qiao Sang’s heart skipped a beat, and even the meat in her mouth lost its flavor.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Liu Yao recalled Ice Xilu’s state earlier and said, “It seems to be in a low-pressure mood, isn’t coming out to train, just stays in the water tank, and isn’t very interested in food either.”

“A physically and mentally healthy pet shouldn’t be like this.”

Lubao must be eager to absorb the Sacred Water Essence and evolve quickly…

Qiao Sang immediately understood her thoughts.

Usually, training skills didn’t increase her internal energy, but staying in the tank with Sacred Water Essence was different, she could clearly feel her energy growing.

After thinking it over, Qiao Sang said, “I’ll take her out for walks these next few days to get her moving.”

The Vice Principal had a point. Lubao wasn’t in the right state. Her hang-up was probably that Yabao and Little Treasure had both evolved and become obviously stronger than her.

She used to finish her energy pills cleanly every time, but today she only ate half before going back to her room.

But she still had a long way to go before she could evolve. She couldn’t stay like this the whole time.

Liu Yao, hearing this, contentedly continued eating.

Ice Xilu was a rare endangered pet beast from the Guwu region, basically, a Blue Star-level endangered species.

He definitely didn’t want anything to happen to it.

---

Qiao Sang returned to her room, meditated for over an hour, then opened her eyes and looked at Lubao in the tank. She said, “Lubao, let’s go out for a bit.”

“Lu?”

Lubao opened her eyes, showing an expression that said,

Where to?

“To see if there are any places to do some battles.” Qiao Sang said.

“Lu.”

Lubao closed her eyes.

Not interested.

Qiao Sang: …

“Do you know why Yabao and Little Treasure evolved so quickly?” Qiao Sang coaxed softly.

“Lu.”

Lubao’s eyes snapped open, staring intently at her beast tamer.

You haven’t looked at me like that in a long time…

Qiao Sang felt a twinge of emotion but kept coaxing on the surface:

“Did you notice? Yabao and Little Treasure had the most battles out of all of you. Battles help you grow stronger faster.”

She’d considered letting Lubao experience despair during a sandstorm or something, but that was like evolution on hell mode.

Not to mention the sandstorm, getting Lubao to feel despair was almost impossible.

Since she wanted to evolve faster, she’d just take her out for lots of battles to build up evolution points toward general level.

“Lu.”

The moment she heard this, Lubao jumped straight out of the tank without hesitation, gave a cry, and signaled that she was ready to leave right now.

Qiao Sang: …

Even in a bad mood, still so easy to trick…