Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1
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The next day, when Qiao Sang woke up, it was already nine in the morning.
"I slept well. It seems everyone is busy with the preliminaries and hasn't started making moves yet..."
After eating breakfast, she turned on the TV in her room to watch the live broadcast of the Regional Championships. Among her 400-plus opponents, she hadn't seen nearly half of them on the lists provided by marketing accounts, so she had to learn about them by watching the preliminaries.
Aside from the day of their own match, contestants do not have free access to watch from the stands, they also need tickets. Since Qiao Sang couldn't buy any, she chose to watch the livestream.
"Yap yap..."
Yabao sat beside him, watching intently. Suddenly, there were two thump-thump knocks on the door.
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure floated to the door and poked his head directly through the wood to check. After pulling his head back, he opened the door.
Ye Xiangting walked in, giving Little Treasure a meaningful look, and asked: "Has Little Treasure always opened doors like that?"
Little Treasure blinked his large, innocent eyes, looking confused. Qiao Sang coughed and changed the subject: "Mom, why are you here?"
"To see you, of course."
Ye Xiangting set down some food she had brought, sat on the sofa, and said, "I forgot to ask yesterday. Since you're already a B-rank Beast Master, what is your fifth contracted pet?"
"Qingbao." Qiao Sang called out.
"Qing qing~"
Qingbao appeared instantly and gave Ye Xiangting a sweet smile as a greeting.
Ye Xiangting’s eyes lit up. "What is this pet called? It's so cute."
"It's a Breezewing Nini, a Fairy-type pet." Qiao Sang introduced.
"That's a lovely name." Ye Xiangting gestured to Qingbao.
"Come here."
"Qing qing."
Knowing this was her Beast Master's mother, Qingbao didn't refuse and floated over. Before Ye Xiangting could do anything, she landed on her lap and looked up with her pure eyes, looking incredibly well-behaved.
Ye Xiangting froze. Looking at the pet on her lap with eyes as pure as the blue sky, she felt her heart melt. She had seen many pets, including plenty of cute low-level ones, but none had ever been this adorable. For a while, her mind was entirely on Qingbao, her hand occasionally stroking the white clouds on her body, forgetting to speak.
Qiao Sang continued watching the livestream.
"Qing qing..."
After being petted for a long time, the smile on Qingbao's face began to falter. She turned to look at her Beast Master, only to find her glued to the TV. Turning again, her cry for help met Little Treasure's gaze.
"Xun xun?"
Little Treasure’s spirits rose. He felt a perfect opportunity to earn some points with his future little sister. He floated in front of Qiao Sang's mother and looked at the snacks on the coffee table with a look of feigned curiosity, trying to draw her attention away.
Ye Xiangting was successfully distracted. "These are some snacks, you can try them now."
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure opened the bag. Qingbao took the chance to turn into a breeze and vanish.
Feeling the softness under her hand disappear, Ye Xiangting blinked and remembered her other reason for coming. "I heard that contestants staying at the Beast Center get disturbed easily. Do you want to move to the hotel I booked? It's a bit further from the venue, but at least it's quiet."
"No need." Qiao Sang declined.
"Unless it's one of those high-privacy hotels, staying anywhere else is the same as the Beast Center. Plus, the location is good here, it's convenient to get around."
She had looked into it a few days ago. Only a select few hotels truly protected customer privacy to the maximum degree, ordinary ones were easily bypassed by a Beast Master’s various methods. And those high-privacy hotels had long been filled by other contestants.
Ye Xiangting was about to say something when her eyes caught a glimpse of a mysterious pet she had never seen before, one that looked like Lubao, standing by the window. Cold air radiated from its body as it condensed armor made of frost. She froze, her previous words forgotten.
"Is that... Lubao?" She asked hesitantly.
Qiao Sang looked over and hummed in confirmation. Then, remembering something, she said casually: "Oh, I forgot to mention. Lubao has evolved too."
Her mother’s warm behavior yesterday had made her forget some of the scary reactions from the past.
Ye Xiangting was utterly bewildered. Lubao evolved? Lubao actually evolved too? Lubao was a General-level pet before, so after evolving, wouldn't that mean... a King-level pet?!
So, her daughter already had two King-level pets?!
Ye Xiangting’s thoughts became a jumbled mess of shock, disbelief, and confusion. How did her 17-year-old daughter become a Beast Master with two King-level pets?
After a long time, long enough for Qiao Sang to finish watching two matches, Ye Xiangting finally asked: "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Huh?" Qiao Sang was startled, then realized what her mother was referring to.
"It happened during these past six months."
Ye Xiangting said hollowly: "I know. But in these six months, didn't you have a single moment to call and tell me?"
Wait, Mom, you were so understanding yesterday, saying it was normal for me to be too busy to call. Did you already forget? Qiao Sang tried to jog her mother's memory. "I was just too busy. I only recently came out of a secret realm after completing a mission."
Ye Xiangting went silent for a moment. "Does anyone else know?"
Qiao Sang shook her head. "Just Mikayla and the others. I haven't even posted about it on social media."
She paused and then asked, "Mom, do you want to take a picture and post it?"
Hearing this, Lubao said nothing, only silently dissipating the ice armor.
Ye Xiangting shot her a look. "Post what? You're in the middle of the Regional Championships. The fewer people who know your true strength, the better."
She although she had never participated in the Regional Championship herself, she knew that the thing contestants feared most was having their data fully analyzed before a match.
Qiao Sang blinked, suddenly realizing her mother hadn't posted anything about Yabao's evolution yesterday either...
Lubao began re-condensing the ice armor.
Ye Xiangting picked up her phone and, click, took a photo of Lubao.
Qiao Sang looked at her, her eyes saying: Didn't you say you weren't going to post?
Ye Xiangting read her daughter's look and put her phone down. "I won't post it now. I'm saving it. Once you actually send Lubao onto the field, then I'll post it."
Qiao Sang: ...
Lubao: ...
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9:00 PM.
Suburban Villa.
Qiao Sang was training at the open-air training ground. Yu Le watched the figure on the field through the floor-to-ceiling window and sighed with emotion: "Sis, I never thought the person you invested in would become such a big shot in such a short time."
"Neither did I..." Yu Ke agreed.
She although she was optimistic about Qiao Sang's future, she never imagined that future would arrive so rapidly. In yesterday's match, Qiao Sang had practically dominated the trending topics. A rookie Beast Master topping the charts during the preliminaries was a rare sight in past Regional Championships.
"She’s training here now, so don't keep going over and bothering her." Yu Ke warned.
"I know." Yu Le said.
"I haven't even told anyone she’s training at our house, otherwise those guys would be trying to visit every day."
Yu Ke thought of something and asked, "The person who booked all the remaining training halls in Tian’an City recently... was it that guy from the Rong family?"
"It was him." Yu Le gossiped.
"Probably his first time in the Regionals and he wants a good result, so he pulled that stunt. Sadly for him, most people don't know it was him, the internet just says there are too many people and training grounds are impossible to book. But even if the Rong kid didn't do it, someone else would have. It's not that unusual."
Although she was young, she grew up in a complex environment and always heard the inside scoop on large-scale competitions.
"Should we tell Qiao Sang?" Yu Le asked.
"No need." Yu Ke said without hesitation.
"The most important thing for her right now is the competition. Don't bother her with this."
While they spoke, Qiao Sang finished organizing the sparring sessions for Yabao, Lubao, Little Treasure, and Gangbao, then stood to the side to observe.
"Qing qing?"
At this moment, Qingbao appeared and cried out, asking if she didn't need to train.
Qiao Sang froze, then quickly said, "Of course you do. Start by practicing Fairy Wind."
"Qing qing..."
Qingbao didn't leave. She let out a dejected cry, asking if she simply wouldn't have a chance to go on stage.
This... Qiao Sang hesitated, not answering immediately.
The Regional Championships gathered the strongest youths under forty. At the very least, contestants sent out High-level pets. Qingbao was a Mid-level pet, sending her out would practically be giving points away.
Qiao Sang saw Qingbao’s desire to compete. She chose her words carefully and said diplomatically: "It's not that. The competition lasts a long time. If you can become stronger during this period..."
The implication was: If you evolve, you can play.
"Qing qing?"
Qingbao’s eyes lit up, then turned into a look of confusion. What counts as becoming stronger?
Do I have to be that blunt? Qiao Sang steeled herself and told the truth: "Wait until you evolve."
"Qing qing..."
Qingbao immediately wilted. Having lived in the secret realm for so long, she knew how difficult evolution was. It seemed she wouldn't be able to compete after all... Enveloped in a low-pressure aura, Qingbao floated to the side to begin practicing the Fairy Wind her Beast Master mentioned.
"Wait!" Qiao Sang called out, unable to bear the sight of Qingbao’s dejected back.
"Qing qing?"
Qingbao turned around.
Qiao Sang coughed and said, "Actually, evolving in a short time isn't that difficult."
"Qing qing?"
Qingbao’s eyes sparked as she floated back, staring at her Beast Master with anticipation.
"Are you afraid of hard work?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Qing qing." Qingbao shook her head.
"Good. Then from now on, you’ll spend 10 hours a day training skills."
Qiao Sang said, "Plus two hours of battling."
She had her cheat code. As long as she had enough points, she could absolutely make Qingbao evolve into a High-level pet in a short time. Back then, Yabao and the others had also used points to evolve to High-level within a few months.
Current matches only required three pets, and she had Yabao and the others, so she hadn't thought about having Qingbao accumulate points through battle to force an evolution.
This often happens when a Beast Master has many pets,munless the older ones hit a talent ceiling, it's hard to find the time to focus heavily on the newer additions.
Qiao Sang hadn't originally intended for Qingbao to play in the Regionals, but since she expressed the desire, she would find a way. Back in the secret realm, Qingbao had coordinated with Gangbao to harvest wild pets, accumulating quite a few points, enough to evolve to High-level directly.
However, to achieve a Perfect Evolution, it wasn't enough yet. First, skill proficiency hadn't reached the Ultimate level; second, the evolution materials from the Central Hollow Region had not yet been delivered.
"Qing qing?"
Qingbao looked puzzled. Can I really evolve quickly this way? In her memory, evolution required eating various energy-rich materials.
"Do you trust me?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Qing qing."
Qingbao stared at her for two seconds and nodded. If she didn't trust her, she wouldn't have left the secret realm with her.
"Then practice if you trust me." Qiao Sang said seriously.
"Qing qing."
Qingbao stared for another two seconds, then turned to start.
"Wait!" Qiao Sang called out again.
Qingbao turned back.
"Don't train Fairy Wind. Train Tailwind."
Tailwind was currently Qingbao’s most proficient skill, it would reach the Ultimate level the fastest.
"Qing qing."
Qingbao didn't ask why this time. She nodded, turned into a breeze, and began her training.
I wonder when the evolution materials for Qingbao will be delivered... Qiao Sang thought, watching the direction where she disappeared.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was her mother. She picked up, and before she could speak, her mother’s voice, shaking with excitement, came through the speaker:
"Qing... Qingbao... Is Breezewing Nini a legendary pet?"
She finally found out... Qiao Sang hummed in affirmation. "Mom, how did you know?"
There was a sudden silence on the other end. After a few seconds, her mother’s voice finally returned: "I saw it on the trending list! You child... contracting a legendary pet is such a big deal, and you didn't even tell me..."
I'm on the trending list again... Qiao Sang pulled her thoughts together.
"Qingbao is only Mid-level. She’s a long way from her legendary God-level form."
"Being far from God-level doesn't change the fact that it's a legendary pet!" Ye Xiangting felt her daughter was being modestly boastful. Her heart was filled with pride and a complex sense of wonder: How did I give birth to such a genius?
Qiao Sang chatted with her mother for a bit, hung up, and opened the trending list.
#Qiao Sang, Qingqing Ni#
#Qiao Sang definitely contracted Qingqing Ni in Secret Realm 16#
Two tags about her and Qingbao were particularly eye-catching among the Regional Championship news, occupying the first and third spots. Qiao Sang opened the third-ranked post:
[Me, a Spirit Mark Master lucky enough to enter Secret Realm 16 this year. Everyone knows there are Qingqing Ni in Secret Realm 16. I went specifically for them and even joined a group of companions searching for them.]
[Qingqing Ni, a legendary pet. Even if you can't contract one, just seeing it is fine.]
[With that mindset, I saw Qiao Sang.]
[Yes, that strongest dark horse in history from the Regional Championships!]
[When I saw her in the secret realm, I thought she was some youthful-looking old hag, so my companions and I didn't dare make a move. Who knew she was actually that young!]
[Of course, it's a good thing we didn't...]
[She's young, but she's a damn B-rank Beast Master. Who would have thought?]
[I met her three times in the realm. We have quite a bit of fate, actually. Looking back now, she probably contracted Qingqing Ni right then!]
[We had a teammate who could sense special winds. All three times, the sensed direction led to Qiao Sang. We should have known back then...]
[I regret it so much now! What a great chance to get her contact info!]
[Getting sidetracked... Later, after I came out of the realm, I saw news of a Qingqing Ni appearing at various Beast Centers. There were photos, and I immediately recognized her as the one I saw three times. I just didn't know her name then.]
[Yesterday, as soon as I watched the Regional Championships, I recognized her as the person from the realm and the Beast Master from those candid photos of Qingqing Ni.]
[I bet my character on it: She is that Beast Master who contracted Qingqing Ni.]
[Also, here's a tip: She has a Ghost-type pet that can use Teleportation.]
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Thanks for the chapter.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is not so nice for spoiling her most abused Psychic move like that.