Chapter 812: Coordination Tournament

“Your Ice Aipalu perfectly meets the standards for entering a coordination tournament.” Maral concluded.

On Chaosu Star, ice-type pet beasts were already rare. Add in the innate snow effect that created beautiful visuals the moment they appeared, and combine that with Ice Aipalu's graceful appearance, just making a debut would guarantee unanimous approval from the judges in the first evaluation round.

“Xun Xun?” Little Treasure looked over with hopeful eyes.

What about him? What about him?

Qiao Sang helped him ask: “Then what about Ghost Ring King?”

Maral glanced at Little Treasure and said, “Ghost Ring King is certainly charming as well.”

To be honest, among Qiao Sang’s four pet beasts, Ghost Ring King was actually the least suitable for coordination tournaments.

While coordination competitions focused on showcasing a pet beast’s charm, in reality, the popularity of certain pet beast types hadn’t changed much over time.

Ghost-type pet beasts had consistently ranked among the top two least liked types in annual surveys.

Most ghost-type pet beast skills were creepy or terrifying, rather than elegant or flashy, so the majority of them were eliminated in the first round.

Even though Ghost Ring King had a somewhat cute appearance compared to most ghost-types, and Maral genuinely found him charming, he couldn’t compete with other contestants’ pet beasts in terms of mass appeal.

That’s also why coordinators rarely used ghost-type pet beasts in tournaments.

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure, hearing this, cheered up. He removed a ring from around himself and rummaged inside, pulling out a pair of monocle-like glasses and putting them on.

Maral gave a small “eh?” of surprise.

“Your Ghost Ring King looks great in those.”

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure proudly lifted his glasses.

“Looks a bit like one of those very studious, scholarly pet beasts.” Maral added.

“Xun Xun…”

Hearing that, Little Treasure froze slightly, then quickly took off the glasses and stuffed them back into the ring.

Qiao Sang silently glanced at Little Treasure.

Maral didn’t think too much of it and kept casually chatting with Qiao Sang.

About twenty minutes later, Maral looked down from the sky and said with a smile, “We’re here.”

---

The Coordination Arena was about 5,500 square meters, with three floors.

A metallic spiral track wrapped around the building, giving it a dynamic, futuristic look.

You could see inside the first two floors through the large glass facade, but not the third floor.

At the entrance, a long line had already formed.

Everyone was dressed fashionably, and most of their pet beasts were also decorated.

“Xun Xun…”

Little Treasure looked around at the passing pet beasts, all dolled up from head to toe. He took off his ring and rummaged around inside, pulling out three pairs of sunglasses, handing them to the others.

“Yap Yap!”

Yabao happily accepted a pair of green triangular sunglasses and put them on.

“Lu Ai.”

Lubao poked her head out of Qiao Sang’s backpack, looked at the sunglasses, and shook her head to refuse.

“Gang Slice.”

Gangbao accepted a pair of yellow sunglasses, tried them on, but didn’t like the look of the world through the tinted lenses. She took them off and handed them back.

“Xun Xun…”

Little Treasure sighed and put on the yellow sunglasses himself, then returned the other pair to the ring.

Then, he seemed to find something else, his eyes lit up, and he pulled out a lavender-colored woolen hat, handing it to Gangbao.

“Gang Slice…”

Gangbao stared blankly at the hat for a second, then took it and put it on.

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure grinned, then pulled out a black towel and draped it over his back like a cape.

People nearby started giggling quietly behind their hands. Some even took out their phones and began snapping pictures.

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure was oblivious, thinking everyone was captivated by his charm. He happily waved his paw at them.

Qiao Sang sighed at the scene and scanned the surroundings.

“What are you looking for?” Maral asked.

“Is there a pet accessory store nearby?” Qiao Sang asked.

“There is.” Maral nodded.

“Want to go?”

“Yeah.” Qiao Sang replied.

“I want to buy a proper cloak for small pet beasts.”

Maral glanced at the black towel on Ghost Ring King and immediately understood, chuckling.

“I’ll take you there.”

Normally, at this time in the morning, only breakfast and drink shops would be open. But because of today’s big coordination tournament, many nearby stores had opened early to catch the traffic.

Soon, the two arrived at a pet accessory store.

“Yap Yap!”

“Xun Xun!”

Yabao and Little Treasure were both very excited.

Yabao remained nestled in Qiao Sang’s arms, glancing around with wagging tail.

Little Treasure floated straight to whatever caught his eye, picking things up and trying them on.

Qiao Sang took a quick look around and spotted the cloak section.

She picked up a black satin cloak and called Little Treasure over: “Come here.”

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure saw what she had in hand, and his eyes lit up. He teleported over.

Qiao Sang took off the black towel draped over him and helped him into the cloak. After adjusting it, she looked him over and said with satisfaction: “Go take a look in the mirror, see if you like it.”

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure teleported in front of a full-length mirror.

The moment he saw himself, he beamed and started admiring his reflection from all angles.

“Looks like only Ice Aipalu isn’t wearing anything. Not gonna buy her something?” Maral leaned in and asked.

“She doesn’t like that stuff.” Qiao Sang said helplessly.

Hearing that, Maral didn’t press the issue.

After paying, they walked toward the end of the line.

Suddenly, Maral seemed to get a phone call. She picked up: “Yes, I’m at the entrance of the Coordination Arena.”

To avoid eavesdropping on something she shouldn't hear, Qiao Sang tuned it out.

About half a minute later, Maral hung up and turned to her with an excited look: “We don’t need to line up anymore! Dean Sri is here today as a judge, and she said she’d send someone to bring us in.”

Coordination Department’s Dean Sri Hayek…

Qiao Sang recalled the time she had met her before.

“So? Wanna watch a Coordination Tournament? Who knows, you and your pet beasts might enjoy it.”

Coordination Tournament…

The invitation…

Qiao Sang suddenly remembered something. She turned to Little Treasure: “That invitation I gave you last time, the champagne-colored envelope-like thing, take it out and let me see.”

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure took off his ring, stuck his head inside to search, then pulled out and shook his head.

Didn’t find it.

Qiao Sang paused, then said, “Take off your sunglasses and check again.”

“Xun Xun…”

Little Treasure took off his sunglasses and stuck his head back into the ring.

About ten seconds later, Little Treasure poked his head out, holding the champagne-colored invitation.

Qiao Sang took it and opened it for a look.

Sure enough, the time and location matched today’s event.

“This is... from Dean Sri?” Maral leaned closer, glanced at the contents of the invitation, and said in surprise.

Qiao Sang gave her a look and asked in return, “So, was it Dean Sri who told you to bring me here?”

Maral’s expression immediately stiffened.

“There’s no point hiding it, I’m already here anyway.” Qiao Sang said.

“You’re right.” Maral sighed and dropped the act.

“Dean Sri wanted you to watch this coordination tournament, but she figured you probably wouldn’t come if she invited you directly, so she told me to use it as a task reward.”

She paused, then added sincerely: “Coordination matches are truly amazing. I’m sure you’ll love it. Watching it live is a whole different experience than on TV.”

So the dignified Dean of the Coordination Department actually went through all this trouble just to recruit me… Guess I really do have talent in coordination.

Qiao Sang silently praised herself. She was just about to say that she’d decided to return to Blue Star after this semester.

Just then, a staff member in a white uniform jogged over and asked: “Excuse me, are you Miss Qiao Sang and Miss Maral?”

“Yes, that’s us.” Maral nodded.

“Dean Sri sent me.” The staff member said respectfully.

“I’ll bring you inside now.”

With that, he led the way.

Under his guidance, they headed to a separate entrance and entered the coordination arena smoothly.

“Dean Sri is waiting for you on the third floor.” The staff member said as they stepped onto the spiral escalator.

Maral looked a bit tense and slowly exhaled.

“Why are you nervous?” Qiao Sang noticed her demeanor and asked.

“This is Dean Sri Hayek we’re talking about.” Maral said reverently.

“Since the start of the semester, I’ve only seen her in person less than three times.”

“I thought you two were close.” Qiao Sang said, surprised.

Maral smiled and looked over.

“Thanks to you, I got her contact info. We’ve been messaging for a while now.”

She put an arm over Qiao Sang’s shoulder with camaraderie and said: “So, after this coordination tournament, I’ll still help out with Fire Qilu’s Wave of Peace resistance training, until you don’t need me anymore.”

Qiao Sang smiled.

“Then thank you.”

Although she currently didn’t have much confidence in Yabao developing resistance to Wave of Peace, that didn’t mean she had given up. Who knows, maybe it would be like when Gangbao trained in clone: Struggling at first, but achieving a breakthrough later.

Soon, the two of them arrived on the third floor.

“Dean Sri is waiting inside.” The staff member said as he opened the grand doors to the main hall.

The dominant color theme inside was resplendent gold.

A massive chandelier ring sparkled brilliantly, surrounded by hundreds of dazzling lights.

The seating was arranged by status, offering different viewing angles and perspectives.

The huge stage in front was illuminated by changing beams of light, apparently still undergoing adjustments.

There weren’t many people in the hall yet, but Qiao Sang immediately spotted five people seated in the front row, closest to the stage, one of them was Dean Sri.

Maral took another deep breath.

Qiao Sang walked forward with confident strides.

Maral quickly followed.

Dean Sri turned upon hearing the commotion. Seeing the person she’d hoped for, she smiled: “You’re here.”

“Dean Sri.”

Qiao Sang and Maral greeted her in unison.

“And who are these two?” Asked a red-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged woman seated at the judges’ table.

“They’re students from my school.” Dean Sri replied with a smile.

“Wait, isn’t this Qiao Sang? This year’s champion of the Beast Tamer Star Tournament!” Said a handsome middle-aged man wearing a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, clearly delighted.

The other two judges also turned with friendly smiles.

Even though Qiao Sang wasn’t from the coordination field, nearly everyone who kept up with the news had heard about her, especially the fact that her general-level pet beasts could use super-level skills.

Qiao Sang quickly returned their smiles politely.

“That’s her.” said Dean Sri. Then she gestured toward two nearby seats: “You can sit here. The tournament is about to begin, I need to verify the contestant list.”

With that, she turned back to focus on the documents in her hand.

Once seated, Qiao Sang leaned over and whispered: “Five judges? That many? I thought there were usually just three.”

Maral also whispered back: “Coordination tournaments always have five judges. You’ve probably only seen the smaller, local competitions.”

That made sense, she hadn’t seen many coordination contests, and most of them were on TV. Later, she got too busy to even watch those.

“Besides Dean Sri, who are the others?” Qiao Sang asked.

Maral immediately began the rundown: “The red-haired lady is the president of the Coordination Center in the 1st District, she’s an official. The guy with the glasses is a renowned expert in the breeding field.”

“Coordination contests evaluate pet charm, including fur quality, condition, and whether they’ve used banned enhancers. A breeding expert is essential for oversight.”

“The woman in the silk gown is last year’s World Glamour Tournament champion.”

“And the older gentleman with the white hair is a Coordination Training Master. He won every contest he ever entered in his youth and has trained many excellent coordinators.”

Qiao Sang thought to herself.

Suddenly, the suited middle-aged man turned to examine Yabao, Little Treasure, and Gangbao. He smiled: “Your pet beasts are exceptionally well-trained.”

“Thank you.” Qiao Sang accepted the compliment.

“Are you here because you're interested in coordination contests?” He asked.

Dean Sri didn’t turn, but her hands paused for a moment.

With all these major figures watching, I can’t exactly say no

… Qiao Sang complained silently, then replied with a serious expression: “Of course. Watching a coordination match is a visual feast.”

Dean Sri resumed flipping through her files.

“If you’re interested, you should try participating.” The man said enthusiastically.

“I think your Fire Qilu, Ice Aipalu, and Steel-Slash Giant Falcon are all very suitable.”

“Xun Xun?”

Little Treasure pointed to himself with a paw.

Did they forget about him?

“Especially Steel-Slash Giant Falcon.” The man’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Steel-Slash Giant Falcon is a brand-new evolution form on Chaosu Star. But since she evolves through a bond, and her base form is just a Tiny Steel Falcon, many people hesitate to contract and train her, even if they’re tempted.”

“But if Steel-Slash Giant Falcon competed in a coordination tournament and showcased her charm, I believe more people would be willing to contract Little Steel Falcons in the future.”

“Gang Slice…”

Gangbao’s eyes shimmered with emotion.

Qiao Sang was taken aback.

To be honest, when it came to coordination tournaments, most people only thought she was suitable because of Yabao and Lubao. Rarely did anyone say Gangbao was the best fit.

But that was true, Yabao and Lubao were pet beasts from Blue Star. Even if they performed well in a contest, people would just talk about it for a while.

But if Gangbao displayed her charm, it could draw attention to her entire species.

She had only let Gangbao appear once during the Beast Tamer Star Tournament...

Thinking of that, Qiao Sang’s face turned serious: “I’ll think about it.”

The man nodded, satisfied, and turned back around.

Dean Sri pushed over an unopened drink: “Thirsty? Want something to drink?”

The man was flattered and quickly accepted, thanking her.

[Do you want to participate?] Qiao Sang asked mentally.

[Gang Slice.] Gangbao replied soon after.

She needed to think about it.

“Xun Xun…”

Little Treasure glanced at the human who had sat back down, then at his own Beast Master, his cheeks slowly puffing out.