This punch was lightning-fast, the flaming fist dragging a fiery shadow behind it, accompanied by a terrifying roar.
âXun~â
Just as it was about to hit, Little Treasure grinned and vanished from the spot, reappearing a hundred meters high in the air.
Seeing the target disappear, the Fierce Baboon tried to retract its fist, only to find it couldn't move at all.
âBaâŠâ
The Fierce Baboon looked down and saw all its limbs tightly wrapped in thick, dark shadows.
The flames still burned, and the shadows looked a bit distorted in the fire, but they werenât actually affected at all, in fact, they tightened even more.
Behind the Fierce Baboon, a six-meter-tall Ghost Ring King raised a claw, staring expressionlessly at its bound opponent.
âOh my god! A combo move! Shadow of Darkness paired with Shadow Control, I canât believe such a powerful technique came from a 16-year-old contestant!â The commentator exclaimed excitedly.
âAnd this Ghost Ring King! It can teleport! No wonder its movements looked so strange earlier!â
âIf Iâm not mistaken, this is an ultra-rare dual-type ghost/psychic beast!â
The audience erupted into commotion.
âGhost and psychic types, this beast is absolutely one of Blue Starâs rarest, maybe even ultra-rare!â
âA combination of two high-level skills⊠Iâm over 30 and still havenât mastered a single comboâŠâ
âI still canât believe sheâs only 16⊠not to mention that orange-yellow star formation, it makes no sense!â
âIs she a professional Beast Tamer? I saw the runes on the Ghost Ring King and thought she was a Rune Artist.â
âThe markings on the Ghost Ring King only boost comprehension, they donât help in battle.â An experienced Rune Artist explained.
Clearly, no one had heard of her before the match, but within a minute of stepping onto the stage, all eyes and discussion had shifted to Qiao Sang.
At that moment, the commentator seemed to recall another star contestant and added: âPetra is still issuing commands in a language only her beast can understand, one of her unique features.â
---
Little Treasure had been practicing Shadow of Darkness during his computer breaks the past two days. His Shadow Control was already at peak mastery. With just a bit of effort in learning Shadow of Darkness, combining the two wasn't that hard.
Originally, she thought Shadow of Darkness was just for show, but it turned out to be surprisingly effective. Qiao Sang looked at the scene before her with satisfaction.
Just as she was about to issue a command, she heard the commentator speak.
So it turns out her opponent wasnât calling the monkey by name but issuing commands in its species' language⊠Impressive! Itâs the first time Iâve seen someone speak beast languageâŠ
Qiao Sang looked at her opponent in the distance with an expression that said,
'Holy crap, youâre amazing.'
Sheâs taunting meâŠ
Petra, sensing her opponentâs gaze, stiffened slightly and shouted: âBaboon!â
The Fierce Baboon heard its Beast Tamerâs voice and immediately tensed its muscles. A white glow appeared around the fire ring on its neck.
At the same time, the flames on its limbs flared up as it pushed outwards. The meter-wide shadow began to show signs of cracking.
This baboonâs strength and energy surpass Little Treasure's⊠I need to end this fastâŠ
Qiao Sang quickly realized.
âXun~â
Little Treasure raised a short toe.
The six-meter-tall Ghost Ring King raised its short toe in sync.
Suddenly, the shadows expanded wildly, wrapping the Fierce Baboon completely.
At Little Treasureâs size, Shadow Control couldnât fully enshroud a beast of this scale, but Shadow of Darkness could.
âBaboon!â
Petra shouted another command.
The shadow-wrapped sphere suddenly expanded.
Qiao Sang could faintly feel the boiling heat inside.
Flickers of flame began to leak through the black sphere, turning increasingly red.
âSpin!â Qiao Sang didnât dare waste any time.
âXun~â
Little Treasure raised his short toe and began to spin rapidly.
The towering Ghost Ring King mirrored the movement.
Meanwhile, high in the sky, the black sphere began to spin, faster and faster, until it blurred beyond recognition.
âQiao Sang has gone for a spinning tactic!â The commentator said excitedly.
âIs she trying to make the baboon dizzy?!â
In the stands, fans of Petra and item trainers grew rowdy.
âCanât the Fierce Baboonâs fire burn through the Ghost Ring Kingâs shadow?â
âGetting knocked out by spinning? Thatâs humiliating!â
âPetra! You can do it! I believe-"
The shouting stopped abruptly.
The flames burst through the shadow sphere.
The Fierce Baboon, engulfed in flames, appeared on the battlefield again.
But its eyes were spinning as it plummeted from the sky.
âBaboon!â Petra realized something was wrong and called out urgently.
âBaâŠâ
The baboon, hearing its tamer, forced its eyes open despite the dizziness.
And the next second, it saw a pair of purple eyes.
Wide-angle view-
During its fall from high above, Little Treasure suddenly appeared in front of the monkey, descending at the same speed, face-to-face.
Bang!
Three seconds later, the Fierce Baboon slammed hard into the ground.
Dust billowed.
In the close-up shot, the baboon had its eyes shut and wasnât getting up.
Meanwhile, Little Treasure reappeared in midair, giggling behind his paw.
The arena fell into silence before the commentator broke it: âThe Fierce Baboon broke free from the Ghost Ring Kingâs binding, but it looks like the spinning really affected it. That last hypnosis was brilliant.â
âUsing the moment when the Fierce Baboon's mind was at its most chaotic, perfect timing. The Ghost Ring Kingâs hypnosis must be high-level. Letâs see if it can recover in time.â
A mechanical referee flew over to inspect the Fierce Baboon.
Petra clenched her fists.
Soon, the mechanical referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the match.
âLooks like Qiao Sang has won this round.â The commentator concluded.
The audience first murmured, then the volume steadily rose.
âPetra actually lostâŠâ
âI mean, it makes sense. A ghost/psychic combo pet that can pull off high-level combo moves, just contracting such a rare beast is already beyond most pro Tamers, let alone combining such skills. Petraâs just an item specialistâŠâ
âExactly, this Qiao Sang is no ordinary contestant. That hypnosis wasnât done while calmly floating, it had to match the baboonâs fall speed. Itâs small, a ghost-type, so its descent is slower. To maintain speed and cast hypnosis, thatâs pro-level stuff.â
âShe really seems like a seasoned proâŠâ
âNo wonder sheâs famous on Blue StarâŠâ
âI still canât believe sheâs only 16âŠâ
At the Beast Tamer Star Tournament, most audience members were fans of the contestants. There were no bets or stakes involved, so even when their favorites lost, fans tended to find ways to justify it, not anger, just a tinge of disappointment.
Spectator Area, Section A, Row 5.
Dorothy pulled out her phone, snapped a photo of the arena, and sent it to the freshman Beast Tamer class group chat: [I'm live at the scene and laughing, canât believe theyâre doubting Demon Qiaoâs age.]
Replies came in quickly: [Dragon Specialist: I get it. When I found out she was two years younger than us, I was stunned for half a day.]
[Smirking Sir: There is precedent⊠Donât a lot of celebs lie about their age?]
[Do Not Disturb: LMAO. The item specialists in our group chat are all saying itâs unfair to fight someone whoâll clearly qualify for the Interstellar Cup in the future, like, do you even know how old Qiao Sang is? And how old that item specialist is?]
Dorothy read the replies with a huge grin.
In the contestant area.
Qiao Sang performed even better than he expectedâŠ
Pirite smiled with satisfaction.
At the very least, he hadnât anticipated the two high-level skills being combined like that.
---
On the Field.
âXun xun~â
Little Treasure instantly teleported back to his Beast Tamer's side.
With a wave of her hand, Qiao Sang retracted Little Treasure into her Beastâs Codex.
The reason she had won so quickly earlier was mainly due to having an informational advantage. She had studied her opponent, but the opponent hadnât studied her.
If she used the same move again, it wouldnât be so easy, at the very least, the opponent wouldnât turn their back to Little Treasure to allow that Dark Shadow Strike⊠For the second match, itâs better to switch to Yabao and the othersâŠ
So sheâs not planning to use the Ghost Ring King in the second round?
Petra instinctively pondered as she watched the black-haired girlâs movements from afar.
No, the Ghost Ring King was clearly her trump card pet. Since she was preparing to go interstellar, the first match would definitely be where she gave it her all, ideally ending it 2:0 to leave a deep impression on the audience⊠The Ghost Ring King hadnât been in battle for long and still had the strength for another round⊠The opponent must have intentionally retracted it to mislead and confuse her, making her let her guard downâŠ
The more Petra thought about it, the more convinced she became.
She didnât even realize sheâd lost the ease sheâd had in the previous round, now her entire body was tense, and every move the other made triggered endless associations in her mind.
âContestant Qiao Sang has retracted the Ghost Ring King!â The commentatorâs eyes lit up.
âIs she preparing to switch out her pet?â
It wasnât unusual for contestants to change pets, but the fact that she was from Blue Star meant her summoned pet was likely from Blue Star too, and that excited him slightly.
As his words fell, a mechanical voice echoed throughout the arena: â3, 2, 1, battle start!â
Qiao Sang and Petra formed seals with both hands at the same time.
With her richer experience giving her an edge, a green star array lit up in front of Petr first.
A pet that was mostly green, resembling a deer, with a pair of curled blunt horns on each side of its head and a ring of dark green leaves around its neck appeared within.
At the same time, a mysterious deep blue figure just began to emerge in the orange-yellow star array.
Itâs not the Ghost Ring KingâŠ?
Petra was briefly stunned, then overjoyed, only to immediately sense something off.
That size⊠it looked like another General-level petâŠ
So she really couldnât be just sixteenâŠ
Perat steadied her nerves.
Summoning another pet was fine, it couldnât possibly be as troublesome as the Ghost Ring King. Now that her pet had been summoned first, the advantage was hers!
Qiao Sang looked at the distant pet and thought to herself:
As expected, itâs Elder MuzaoâŠ
âMumu.â
Elder Muzao stared at the still-forming figure in the distance, called out once, and began to gather energy, the leaves on its neck glowing green.
But the next second, it suddenly stared blankly ahead. The green glow disappeared, and it stopped gathering energy.
Panoramic view:
A mysterious pet covered almost entirely in deep blue scales, with a white gem embedded on its forehead and two identical-shaped but differently colored tails, appeared within the orange-yellow star array.
As it emerged, white snowflakes filled the sky.
The pet and the snow together formed a breathtaking, picturesque scene.
The people of Chaosu Star, used to constant seasonal temperatures, were caught completely off guard, their senses overwhelmed by the visual impact. One after another, they stared in stunned silence, as if entranced.
âOh my god! Thatâs gorgeous!â The commentator exclaimed excitedly.
âQiao Sangâs pet actually has a snowfall trait! Its entrance not only stunned us, but also seems to have enchanted Elder Muzao, itâs frozen! It missed the best time to attack because it was mesmerized!â
The silence was shattered, and a wave of chatter erupted from the audience stands.
âThis pet is way too beautiful!â
âI bet Qiao Sang is a coordinator back on Blue Star!â
âSheâs only 16, probably still in high school and hasnât chosen a career path yetâŠâ That voice was quickly drowned out.
âI want all the info on that pet within one minute!â
âDonât be fooled by Blue Star pets! We have pets that cause snowfall too!â
âBut none as pretty as this one!â
The audience came from all walks of life, including coordinators. Just one glance, and they were captivated by the petâs appearance.
With its beauty, and the snowfall impossible on Chaosu Star, it instantly gained Qiao Sang a number of new fans. Some immediately began searching 'Qiao Sang' and 'Qiao Sangâs pet' on their phones, or pulled out pet scanners and pointed them at the mysterious creature in the arena.
---
On the field.
âMu!â Petra suppressed her inner amazement and called out.
âMumu!â
Elder Muzaoâs eyes sharpened upon hearing its Beast Tamerâs voice.
It let out a loud cry, the leaves around its neck glowing green.
Boom boomâŠ
In an instant, a massive vine burst from the ground, towering into the air, it was dozens of meters tall, like a giant green monster erupting from underground!
It struck furiously toward Lubaoâs location.
The vine was extremely long and fast, almost in the blink of an eye, it reached Lubaoâs face.
Lubao didnât dodge like in previous battles. Instead, her right forepaw lightly stomped down.
In that moment, it was as if the entire world turned into a land of extreme cold, ice spread rapidly in all directions, freezing everything it touched.
The giant vine less than a meter from Lubao became covered in a thick, solid layer of ice, turning into an ice sculpture.
Behind it, Elder Muzao stood frozen, mouth open mid-cry, also turned to ice, locked in place.
And behind Elder Muzao, Petra stared in disbelief, her mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg, completely stunned by the scene before her.
The entire arena fell silent.