Chapter 842: Regional Tournament

Mikayla glanced at her watch and said, “Alright, but you don’t have to make a special trip to the Breeding Department, I’ll have one of their instructors come over.”

Qiao Sang was momentarily taken aback.

Why did that sound like an instructor from the Imperial Beast University was coming just to personally serve her…?

While she was still pondering, Mikayla had already sent a message.

Putting down her phone, she said, “Just wait here. They’ll send someone over shortly. I’ll head home to pack up. We’ll meet directly at the airport so we don’t waste time. I’ll send you the departure time in a bit.”

“Okay.” Qiao Sang nodded.

With a wave of her hand, Mikayla recalled her Fate Sprite into her Beast Codex and walked out of the hall.

Tight schedule… looks like she’s someone who hates wasting time

, Qiao Sang thought.

“Xun xun~”

As soon as Mikayla left, Little Treasure took off his ring, stuck a paw inside, and started rummaging around.

“What are you looking for?” Qiao Sang asked.

“Xun xun~”

Little Treasure gestured with his paw, then pointed to his own hair.

Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched.

“You want a hair ornament like the Fate Spirit’s?”

“Xun xun~”

Little Treasure nodded eagerly.

Before she finished speaking, his eyes lit up as if he’d found what he wanted.

He pulled out a purple grape-shaped hair accessory from the ring and happily clipped it onto his golden hair.

Back when her unlimited card was about to run out, Qiao Sang had gone on a wild shopping spree on Chaosu Star, sweeping up nearly every luxury good she could find, regardless of what it was for.

This hair ornament had been among the haul.

“Looks good on you.” Qiao Sang praised.

“Xun xun~”

Little Treasure happily floated in a circle, then pulled out a mirror from the ring to admire himself.

Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway: “Student Qiao Sang?”

She turned to see a man in his fifties, with sharply defined features suggesting mixed heritage, accompanied by a beast, almost entirely pitch-black, with its head seemingly covered by a black burglar’s mask, carrying a roughly 20-inch case.

A Theft Salamander, a dual-type Dark/Poison King-level beast. It was infamous for nighttime theft, with a reputation similar to Treasure-Seeking Ghosts.

The difference was, Treasure-Seeking Ghosts’ bad reputation often extended to their beast masters, after all, with that signature treasure ring, eight out of ten people who contracted one probably weren’t entirely innocent.

Theft Salamanders, however, earned their bad reputation all on their own.

Qiao Sang was surprised that an instructor from the Imperial Beast University would contract a beast with such notoriety…

It wasn’t that she didn’t have her own thoughts about a beast’s reputation.

After all, if she hadn’t been falsely accused back then, and hadn’t stumbled upon Little Treasure’s unique qualities, she never would have thought to contract him.

Her Steel Falcon had also been disliked by many because of its species’ bad reputation.

At Yulianton University, most beasts she saw had sterling reputations.

“Are you from the Breeding Department?” Qiao Sang asked, though she already knew the answer.

Clearly, outsiders couldn’t enter this area. At this time of day, with his age and bearing, and the fact that he’d called her by name, there was only one possibility:

An instructor specifically sent to serve her.

“That’s right.” The middle-aged man smiled and nodded.

“Professor Mikayla asked me to check on your beasts’ conditions and prepare some energy pills.”

As he spoke, he walked over, giving Yabao and the others a careful once-over, and said with genuine admiration: “I’ve heard of you before. Your beasts really are all rare.”

The Imperial Beast University had no shortage of rare beasts. But even among rare beasts, there were levels.

Ones that could be bought with money or obtained through effort were just status symbols, worth a second glance, but unimpressive to people used to seeing them.

These, however, were different.

Besides the mutated variant Ghost Ring King, there was the nearly extinct Ice Aipalu, a beast only top experts in endangered species could hope to contract.

As for the other two, both had been raised entirely through Qiao Sang's own efforts along brand-new evolutionary paths, each worthy of going down in the annals of the Beast Alliance’s history.

After all, the first person to breed a new form of beast got to name its species, and all future evolutions of that kind would bear that name.

Qiao Sang was used to praise, she only smiled.

The man continued: “I haven’t researched these particular species before, but that’s fine. Only the energy pills for Fire Qilu and the Steel-Slash Giant Falcon will take some time. The Ice Aipalu and Ghost Ring King’s data I already have.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Qiao Sang said.

“It’s no trouble.” He began the check-up.

The Theft Salamander opened the case, taking out equipment piece by piece, handing each item over without needing a word from its master.

Yabao and the others stood patiently for the examination, long accustomed to it.

About an hour later, the man set down his tools and said: “Your Ice Aipalu’s energy is already full. It’s not suitable for high-energy pills right now, I’ll make ones that boost stamina and defense instead.”

“The Ghost Ring King is in excellent condition. The current pills you’re giving it are perfect.”

“Fire Qilu has excess energy. If it takes too many Fire-energy pills, the sudden spike could make it restless, aggressive, and hyperactive. But it looks calm enough, you must be having it train daily to burn off that energy.”

“The Steel-Slash Giant Falcon is fine overall, just needs more energy supplements.”

“The pills will take about a week to prepare. I’ll contact you when they’re ready.”

A week? That was fast! And he still said the pills for Yabao and Gangbao would 'take time'? Were all Imperial Beast University instructors this humble?

Qiao Sang wondered, then asked: “Could you mail them? I’m heading to the Dragon Nation with Professor Mikayla today for training.”

“Of course.” He pulled out his phone.

“Let’s exchange contacts.”

Only then did Qiao Sang think to ask: “Teacher, what’s your name?”

“Flauda Snowden.” He replied warmly.

---

Qiao Sang returned to her villa, packed briefly, and headed for the airport.

While Yabao and the others were getting checked, Professor Mikayla had sent the boarding time.

Boarding was at 9:30 p.m. It was now 7:32. The trip would take about half an hour, so she’d get there a little after eight, perfect timing.

High above, Qiao Sang sat astride Yabao, navigating while estimating the time.

Many flying-type beasts passed by. People riding them couldn’t help glancing at Yabao.

Those fiery, magnificent wings, neither a common flying-type nor a dragon-type, were so powerful and mysterious that they drew everyone’s gaze.

A blue-feathered bird beast glided past. A man in a suit sat atop it, one hand holding a transparent container with a beast inside, the other gripping his phone as he spoke excitedly:

“I’m telling you, we’ve got our daughter’s beast sorted! Guess what I just saw on the street? A Momo Seed! Yeah, the kind you can’t even reserve at the beast base!”

“And this one’s wild, I caught it myself!”

“Must’ve come out of a rift. Looked totally confused, didn’t resist much.”

“Honey, I just saved us a fortune. Tonight, you’d better-”

Mid-sentence, the man caught sight of Yabao and was instantly distracted.

Only when the voice on the phone asked what happened did he explain: “No, the signal’s fine, I just saw this beast with flaming wings. So cool! Definitely not from the Eagle Country…”

Inside the transparent container, the greenish Momo Seed glanced toward the grape hair ornament in Little Treasure’s hair as Yabao flew away.

Its eyes glowed blue, and then it vanished from the container.

The man was still on the phone: “Anyway, forget that beast. Doesn’t matter to us. Our daughter won’t awaken her Beast Codex for six months, so we just have to, wait, what the-!”

“What happened?!” The woman on the other end panicked.

“The Momo Seed’s gone!”

---

At the airport.

Yabao shrank in size.

Qiao Sang waved her hand, recalling Lubao and Gangbao into her Beast Codex.

When she turned to put Little Treasure away, he raised a paw with a “Wait!” expression.

“What is it?” Qiao Sang asked.

“Xun xun!”

Little Treasure anxiously turned left and right, looking at the ground as if searching for something.

His hair accessory was gone!

Qiao Sang glanced at the top of his head, sure enough, it was missing.

She scanned the floor, then checked the time on her phone.

“Forget it, it’s getting late. If you like wearing things on your head, I’ll buy you some after we get off the plane.”

“Xun xun…”

Little Treasure sighed, then raised two short toes, indicating he wanted two.

Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched.

“Fine.”

“Xun xun~”

Little Treasure was satisfied.

With a wave of her hand, Qiao Sang stored him back into the Beast Codex.

At that moment, her phone vibrated.

She picked it up, caller ID: Professor Mikayla

She answered.

“Hello, are you here yet?”

“Yes, I’m already at the airport.”

“Good, I’m waiting for you at the boarding gate.”

“Okay, professor.” Qiao Sang hung up and walked inside.

At the same time...

Three kilometers from the airport, a gray-black creature with golden eyes and a halo, wearing a grape-shaped hair accessory identical to Little Treasure’s, appeared in midair.

It was a Ghost Ring King.

---

Dragon Nation. Hollow Central Region. Changqing City. Skyport Airport

The plane landed smoothly. Qiao Sang disembarked and, together with Mikayla, headed straight for the local Beast Center.

Teacher Pirite was the type to act on a whim, but Mikayla clearly had both drive and planning skills.

“Before coming, I looked into it. If you want to officially compete in the regional tournament, first you have to register. Registration is at the Beast Center. Then you need to pass the qualifying trials in every prefecture-level city in this province.”

On the way there, Mikayla explained: “The examiners who issue those tasks are also stationed at each city’s Beast Center."

“So, for convenience, we’ll be staying in the Beast Center from now on. I’ve already booked our rooms here in this city’s center.”

Hearing that, Qiao Sang instantly recalled her time in Chaosu Star's 30th District, when she and Pirite had to fight for floor space in the Beast Center. She thought to herself,

Professor Mikayla is much more reliable

.

Mikayla continued: “There’s another thing. You’re from the Yuhua Region, so there are restrictions if you want to sign up for Hollow Central’s tournament. You need proof of property ownership here.”

She looked at Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang quickly shook her head.

“I don’t have a house in Hollow Central.”

Back when she had the unlimited credit card, she had considered buying one, but the restrictions were too high, she wasn’t eligible.

“Or proof that you’ve paid local social security for a year.”

“Nope.” Qiao Sang shook her head again.

Mikayla glanced at her.

“Or certification that you became a C-rank Beast Master before the age of 30.”

One of the conditions to compete in the regional tournament was to be under 40 years old and a C-rank Beast Master.

But reaching C-rank before 30 was a whole different level from reaching it before 40.

Every region welcomed top talent without hesitation, and hitting C-rank before 30 put you in that category.

Qiao Sang’s eyes lit up, instantly energized.

“That one I can do.”

Mikayla smiled.

“I know.”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have booked the Beast Center so quickly.

Then Mikayla added, “There’s something else you should know.”

“What?” Qiao Sang asked, curious.

“You’ll have to complete each city’s qualification trial entirely on your own. I won’t intervene.” Mikayla’s tone was serious.

Oh, that’s all?

Qiao Sang nodded.

“I understand.”

If she couldn’t even qualify on her own, all her training on Chaosu Star would have been for nothing.

---

Forty minutes later-

Changqing Beast Center.

First-floor lobby.

While Mikayla handled the lodging arrangements, Qiao Sang went alone to Window 19, handing over her ID card and Beast Master badge.

“Hello, I’d like to register for the regional tournament.”

The staff member took them and smiled politely.

“Please wait a moment.”

She looked over the information on her screen. When her eyes fell on the

Age

field, she froze, then quickly looked up at Qiao Sang with visible surprise.

She called over the staff member from the next window.

The two of them repeatedly confirmed the details on-screen, then proceeded with the registration.

The clerk at Window 19 returned the ID card and badge to her, speaking warmly: “You’re now pre-registered. But this isn’t the final registration, you must complete the qualification trials for every prefecture-level city in our province within six months.”

Qiao Sang blinked.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be within a year?”

The staff member at the next window explained: “This year’s Hollow Central regional tournament is already six months into its registration period.”