Chapter 766: How Did She Even Form Those Seals?

Three terrifying, mountain-sized ice spikes descended with a blast of bone-chilling wind.

Lubao moved swiftly, leaping several times in quick succession to dodge the massive spikes from above.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

The attacks missed their target and smashed into the ground, causing the arena floor to erupt as icy debris flew everywhere like tumbling boulders.

Straight Bear landed vertically with a thunderous roar.

The moment it hit the ground, chaotic gusts swirled up from its impact point.

At the same time, the surrounding blizzard twisted upward into the air.

Suddenly, everything around it became clear in Straight Bear’s eyes.

“Straight!”

Spotting a blue figure tens of meters away, it bellowed and charged forward like a white blur!

Lubao didn’t panic as her opponent sped toward her.

Even though Straight Bear moved incredibly fast, in her eyes it looked like slow motion.

Just before it crashed into her, Lubao used all four limbs to leap backward into the still-active snowfall, disappearing instantly into the white haze.

BOOM!

A loud crash, ice cracked and shattered everywhere.

“Straight!!”

Straight Bear let out a pained roar, feeling its skull slam into something unusually hard, and the resulting agony was intense.

The briefly cleared area caused by its earlier descent was once again engulfed in the snowfall.

Straight Bear didn’t realize it, but the audience had seen it all with perfect clarity.

Earlier, while Straight Bear was airborne, holding three massive ice spikes, Ice Aipalu had secretly conjured a fourth colossal spike.

After Straight Bear hurled the three down, Ice Aipalu had just moved in front of the fourth spike it had summoned.

Then, when Straight Bear landed, the upward wind from its impact caused the snowfall to clear just enough to show Ice Aipalu, but not the massive ice spike concealed behind her.

So when Straight Bear charged at Ice Aipalu, it didn’t see the giant spike behind her due to the snowfall's cover.

At the last moment, Ice Aipalu leapt backward, onto the spike.

Straight Bear, unable to stop in time, slammed its head directly into the colossal ice spike.

Ice Aipalu took the opportunity to hop back down.

For a second, the audience went silent. Then came the burst of discussion:

“Ice Aipalu’s reflexes are way too fast!”

“Seriously, the timing of that jump was perfect. If it had jumped too early, Straight Bear wouldn’t have charged so carelessly into a half-visible area.”

“My head hurts just watching Straight Bear crash like that...”

“Right?! That spike shattered into pieces from the impact. You can imagine how much force it used.”

“I admit, when I saw it leap into the air with those three spikes, I got excited thinking it was a counterattack... but Ice Aipalu totally played it.”

“Ice Aipalu dodged the attack! Straight Bear hit the spike instead!” The commentator announced with excitement.

Even without the commentator, Wakhe could tell that Straight Bear had taken serious damage.

As a beast tamer, he could instantly sense his pet’s condition.

But the commentary gave him insight into exactly how the injury happened.

Wakhe’s heart grew heavy. He didn’t dare let Straight Bear move or attack recklessly anymore.

The snowfall was still obscuring most of the field. If Ice Aipalu conjured a few more of those massive spikes, Straight Bear could suffer another head injury if it moved blindly.

The top priority now was to deal with the snowfall.

But the snowfall was too large, it was a weather-type skill. Even if it could be briefly scattered like earlier, it would quickly reform.

If I’d known, I would’ve given Straight Bear some kind of vision-enhancing item...

Wakhe caught himself drifting and pulled his thoughts back in line.

If it couldn’t be removed, then he’d have to wait it out.

The snowfall had been going for a while, it should be ending soon.

But until it stopped, Straight Bear couldn’t just stand still. Wakhe gritted his teeth and shouted: “Keep jumping!”

If it couldn’t move horizontally, it could at least jump up and down. Better than staying in one place like a sitting duck.

“Straight!”

Straight Bear, enduring the pain in its skull, pushed off hard with its limbs. A thick white light gathered around its legs.

At the same time, Qiao Sang gave her own command: “Up above.”

As soon as she spoke, Straight Bear leapt upward like a streak of light.

But when it reached tens of meters high, a mountain-like ice spike appeared just five meters above its head.

The snowfall hadn’t completely obscured the view. The moment that massive spike appeared, Wakhe barely saw its outline.

Damn it!

Vacche’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to shout a command-

But it was too late.

Just 0.05 seconds after the spike appeared, there was a loud '

CRACK

!' and Straight Bear’s head smashed into it.

Shards of ice exploded down from the sky.

“STRAIGHT!!”

Straight Bear let out a miserable cry as it plummeted from the sky.

“Straight Bear hit its head on another giant ice spike!” The commentator’s voice came in right on cue.

The audience erupted again.

“Man, Straight Bear is really getting wrecked…”

“You know, if Qiao Sang doesn’t lose the summoning speed contest, she just controls the whole match.”

“That’s not always true. Her hand seals were only fast today, maybe Wakhe’s just having a bad day.”

“Wakhe? Bad? Are you serious?”

“Ice Aipalu knows too many skills. It even has two ultimate-tier ones. Winning is kind of inevitable.”

“Except... Ice Aipalu hasn’t used either of them yet.”

“Well, duh. With its energy reserves, if it doesn’t use Ice Field Domain at the start of the match, it can’t afford to cast it later. And Healing Light? It hasn’t even taken damage, so why use it?”

“Honestly, the reason Ice Aipalu’s attacks are working so well is because Straight Bear’s movement path is too predictable.

---

Straight Bear loved running in straight lines. Even when encountering obstacles, it would only dodge by turning in straight-line angles. It had outstanding burst strength. The intel wasn’t lying..

. Qiao Sang mused, watching it fall from the sky.

Hurting Straight Bear was ridiculously easy, just set a trap along its straight path. If the obstacle appeared suddenly, it basically had no way to avoid it.

Because... it always ran straight.

Now, its head had taken two direct hits. This match was about to be over.

Qiao Sang calmly gave the final order: “Finish it.”

BOOM!

Straight Bear slammed into the ground, kicking up a flurry of swirling snow.

This time, the snowfall didn’t immediately obscure its figure again.

The storm was nearly over...

Wakhe took a deep breath to steady himself. He still felt it was too early to give up.

From his perspective, Ice Aipalu’s defense wasn’t that high. Even though it had Healing Light, if he could land a finishing move and knock it out, the healing skill wouldn’t even matter.

And Straight Bear happened to have just such a move.

Suddenly, Wakhe felt the temperature drop even further around him.

He immediately sensed something, and looked up.

Snow that had already started to lighten suddenly grew heavy again.

The only difference, there was no strong wind.

Ice Flower Seal. It was Ice Flower Seal! No wonder Qiao Sang had said “finish it” earlier, and Ice Aipalu hadn’t moved at all, she had been casting the Ice Flower Seal the entire time…

Wakhe’s expression changed drastically. He didn’t have time to think further and shouted:

“Clone, block it!”

“Straight…” Straight Bear struggled to its feet, shaking its aching head.

It hadn’t even fully stood up when it heard its Beast Tamer’s voice.

Despite the pain, it began to gather energy.

In an instant, a clone identical to Straight Bear appeared beside it.

But before the clone could cover the original’s body-

Two thick water jets suddenly shot forth and struck both Straight Bear and its clone one after another.

The clone vanished.

“Straight!” Straight Bear glared angrily in the direction the water jets had come from.

Lubao stared back coldly, expression icy.

She didn’t launch another attack. She just stood there, calm and still.

“Straight!”

Remembering all it had suffered earlier, Straight Bear’s expression grew even more furious.

It hadn’t felt much when it couldn’t see its opponent, but now that it could clearly see Lubao looking at it like it was an ant, rage instantly boiled up.

Its muscles tensed, limbs coiled like springs, and it prepared to launch itself in a straight charge.

But just as it leapt, and its hind legs left the ground, snowflakes began to fall onto its body.

One flower. Two flowers. Three flowers…

In the blink of an eye, Straight Bear’s body was completely covered in intricate ice flowers.

“Straight Bear has been frozen by Ice Aipalu’s Ice Flower Seal!”

The announcer’s voice rang out with passionate excitement.

At that moment, the snowfall stopped, leaving behind only the gently falling white snow.

It’s over…

Wakhe felt a chill seep into his heart.

He knew Straight Bear’s capabilities and condition all too well.

If it had been in peak form, maybe, just maybe, it could have forced its way out of the seal.

But now…

Wakhe was filled with despair.

Then the announcer shouted again: “Is this the end of the match?! Will Qiao Sang be the first competitor to enter the finals with a perfect win record?!”

Perfect win record…

Wakhe looked across the arena at the calm black-haired girl, his heart filled with unwillingness.

The match isn’t over yet!

The referee hasn’t declared the result!

Why can’t we try one more time?!

“Break it open!!” Wakhe roared.

“Lu Ai-” Lubao instantly went on high alert.

A breeze blew across the field. Everything fell quiet.

“Break it open for me!!” Wakhe roared again.

Straight Bear, trapped in the icy flowers, still showed no signs of movement.

“Break it open!!” Wakhe shouted at the top of his lungs.

Another breeze drifted by. The mechanical beast-type referee slowly floated from offstage and approached Straight Bear.

“Straight Bear!!!”

Just as Wakhe let out his final roar, the referee blew the whistle signaling the end of the match.

Wakhe: …

His face froze.

So awkward… If I’d known, I wouldn’t have yelled so loud…

“Lu Ai.”

Lubao relaxed.

So that guy really couldn’t break out, huh…

And yet that human was shouting so dramatically…

“Let’s congratulate contestant Qiao Sang on becoming the first finalist of this year’s Beast Tamer Star Tournament with a perfect win record!” The announcer cheered energetically.

Cheers erupted, and the entire stadium went wild.

“Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!”

“Ice Aipalu! Ice Aipalu!”

“Ghost Ring King! Ghost Ring King!”

All the nearby cameras focused on Ice Aipalu walking toward the black-haired girl, freezing that image forever in time.

---

Twenty minutes later.

In the skies above the open-air beast arena.

Yabao, now back to his original size, ran through the sky. The fur on his head stood straight up, swept back by the wind but still standing rigidly tall.

“Your seal-forming speed has improved quite a bit.” Pirite complimented, trying his best not to look at Fire Qilu’s ridiculous hairstyle.

Qiao Sang, still practicing her hand seals, replied: “I didn’t use seals much before. My beasts were usually outside with me, so there was a lot of room for improvement.”

So humble…

Pirite watched her movements with a complicated expression.

Seal formations only used a handful of hand signs, so increasing speed should’ve been simple.

But Qiao Sang was up against adults in their thirties.

People who had been forming seals for over a decade, including professional Beast masters and Coordinators.

To catch up to their speed in such a short time?

Effort alone wasn’t enough.

Talent was absolutely required.

Pirite hadn’t expected it. Qiao Sang not only had talent in brain control and pet nurturing, but even hand speed came naturally to her.

“Do you have any questions about today’s match?” Pirite shook off his thoughts and asked.

Qiao Sang thought for a moment, then asked: “In the second match, how did the audience manage to see what was happening inside the snowfall?”

She remembered hearing the audience and commentator clearly, and had wondered why they seemed so informed despite the visibility.

“Because of Clear-Dust Powder.” Pirite answered without hesitation.

“It’s a special powder produced by certain plant-type pets. Combined with directed light, it lets people see through mists or obscured areas. Once the pet reaches King-level, its Clear-Dust Powder combined with light can see through anything that’s blocking the view.”

“In Chaosu Star, for big matches like this, whenever contestants use poison fog or similar moves, this powder is used.”

Qiao Sang paused, then asked again: “If the powder was scattered across the field, why could only the audience see clearly? My view didn’t seem to change at all.”

So studious…

Pirite thought, relieved he knew the answer, and patiently replied: “Because lighting is key. Only when light passes in the same direction as the Clear-Dust Powder does it allow visibility.”

He added in detail: “During the match, the powder was sprinkled from the audience seats downward, and light was also shone in the same direction, so only from their perspective could everything be clearly seen.”

So that’s how it works…

Qiao Sang suddenly understood.

“Anything else you want to ask?” Pirite prompted.

Qiao Sang thought again and suddenly remembered something: “How do you form seals to summon two or more beasts at once?”

-----

T/n: Soon... I'll be freeeeee!!!!!